Hime x Hime
by Mina Rain
Summary: Set after the Soul Society arc. What if Orihime was the opposite of everything she was known to be? Sweet, polite and conserved? You wish. Orihime with an attitude.
1. Mistakes

Hime x Hime

**Summary: Set after the Soul Society arc. What if Orihime was the opposite of everything she was known to be? Sweet, polite and conserved? Yeah, right. Orihime with an attitude.**

**Warnings: Language, mentions of sex, and some other twisted thoughts. I just hope the T rating will be enough. Seriously OOC Orihime, such was the purpose of, and the main inspiration for, this fic.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this Bleach fanfic, except for Orihime's clearly out of place attitude. All rights belong to the Almighty Tite Kubo, aka God, or Aizen himself. **

**A/N: Just**** wanted to experiment with a very OOC Orihime. She's rude, crude, and not so innocent. Hell, I kinda like her better this way.**

***

Chapter 1: Mistakes

The first time Orihime officially met Kuchiki Byakuya was after the revelation of Aizen's betrayal. That is, after her group of friends managed to rescue Rukia, and countless shinigami busted their sorry asses over to bestow their overdue apologies.

The few days following their dramatic episode up on Soukyoku hill saw any shinigami who ran into them on the streets politely nodding and even going as far as introducing themselves to the group of Ryoka.

Kuchiki Byakuya included.

Orihime ran into him one day while on a stroll down some random street, exploring undiscovered parts of Seireitei. The noble had nodded slightly in her direction. Someone of a higher rank oh so kindly blessing a lesser equal with their acknowledgement.

Orihime scoffed at that. Too loudly, it seemed.

One subtly arched eyebrow later, she found herself being more closely examined by a pair of dark, apathetic eyes. By the look of it, she knew he was taking in her baggy jeans and the oversized hoodie- a failed attempt at covering up her large bust. Sure, she'd been given shinigami clothing to wear, but she had turned them down in favour of her over-worn jeans, now ripped in places down the lengths of her legs. A comfortable look suited for her, or so she deemed. Now, seven feet away from the staring epitome of perpetual coldness, she reconsidered her choice of self representation as the heir continued to look at her with a well-masked disdain.

Gods, how she hated that man. If his arduous attempt at getting his own sister executed went unnoticed, the fact that he tried to kill Ichigo probably got her attention. Rukia was one of her dearest friends, and the Kuchiki had nearly foiled their plan of saving her, not to mention injuring another, very dear friend in the process.

Orihime knew better now, though, than to bash Rukia's brother in front of her- a past mistake when she openly voiced her thoughts on the man to her friend. The shorter girl had defended Byakuya vehemently, spluttering some crap about him having made up for any past mistakes by saving her life from Gin's deadly blade in the end. Yeah, sure. That was just a way to make himself feel better, Orihime had said. Anyone could easily step in between the point of a blade and a girl, herself included. Well, sort of.

Orihime hadn't met the man in person before, but from the things people had been saying about him, she was able to deduce just what kind of a person Bykuya was. An arrogant bastard. Now, having confirmed his rumoured asshole-ness with her own eyes, she nearly shook with contempt.

Byakuya, on the other hand, had not stopped walking, and he went by her within seconds. Coincidentally, the mere seconds were all it took for the aforementioned exchange of glances and unspoken thoughts to take place. So when the last of Byakuya's flowing end of the scarf went past Orihime, she found herself turning around in his direction.

And spitting. On the Kuchiki's noble, silky, white scarf. Completely involuntarity.

Frozen in temporal shock of the said sacrilegious act, Orihime's eyes widened and her jaw dropped in horror. Not wanting to find out if the man behind her had yet to register what was going on, she took off in the opposite direction, willing her legs to go as fast as they could. In her moment of panic, she was still able to make out the fact that no one followed her. No pink glints of sakura petals. No angry bodyguards trying to avenge their captain. She was utterly alone. The street she was running through was empty. As had been the one she was in when the exchange with Byakuaya took place. However, she didn't dare stop running. Several turns and five streets later, she was still half expecting her head to fall off. But her body remained in tact.

Orihime allowed herself to come to a halt in front of a gate, panting heavily. Captain Kuchiki clearly had other things to tend to, rather than chase a girl who spat at him down some streets, that much she was thankful for. She must've gained some distance between them by now.

With the reassuring thought firmly secured in mind, Orihime looked up to see where her feet had taken her. It was true, even after days of staying in Seireitei, Orihime's sense of direction rivaled that of captain Zaraki.

She'd landed herself in front of a division, it seemed. The sign on the white post which made up the gate read "the Sixth Division".

Sometimes, Orihime found her luck unbelievable. She was starting to feel the beginning of a life-long paranoia kicking in, when a hand slapped over her right shoulder.

She jumped, higher than the real world record, or so it seemed, and nearly had a heart seizure right there and then.

An obnoxiously loud laughter erupted behind her. Obviously not Byakuya's. Shakily, Orihime allowed herself to turn around and look at the perpetrator.

It was none other than the division's fukutaichou. Renji Abarai, if she remembered correctly. They had met only once or twice, and always in a room full of other people.

"What's up, Orihime?" The redhead barked cheerfully, eyeing her frightened state with a newfound curiosity. To her credit, Orihime did not flinch at the sudden informality of the address.

"Nothing," she gave him a weak smile, feeling her heartbeat slowing down to a somewhat more human rate.

"You jumped like a frog!" Renji said, head tilting in amusement. _Thanks, pineapple freak._

"It's nothing, really. You just caught be off guard, that's all." Orihime replied calmly.

She wasn't going to tell him of the unfortunate encounter with his captain, and frankly, not anyone else for that matter, if she managed to live past this day.

"You sure?" The redhead persisted. "Ah well, I guess everyone in Seireitei's been jumpy lately, what with that bastard Aizen pulling shit like that." His gaze seemed to wander off somewhere in the distance, away from her face.

This was true. Even now, enjoying their welcomed stay in Seireitei, everyone was restless of the tension in the air, be it from the various captains and lower-ranking shinigami they had faced prior to Rukia's aborted execution, or the knowledge of Aizen plotting his next move way over in Hueco Mundo.

Renji shook his head, as if to clear his mind of the thought, and looked at her with a friendly grin. "Say, you wanna go for a drink later this evening? The whole gang's coming too, of course. I've already invited Ichigo and his bunch."

As to who this whole gang consisted of, Orihime wasn't sure. She had a vague idea of some people Ichigo's fought, though. Former enemies turned friends. She grinned back.

"Sure, why not." She shrugged. Might as well get alcohol poisoning sooner than later, it'd probably hurt less than Senbonzakura, she reasoned.

The sun was already starting to set. Orihime thanked Renji for the invitation, promising to meet up later, and excused herself to go back and change.

They all met up again later that evening in front of the eleventh division, a place Ichigo seemed to frequent lately in order to train with the division members. As it turned out, the bald man, Ikkaku something, knew of a good shinigami bar in a Rugonkai district, and they were all heading there. Orihime surveyed the group. There were two people from the eleventh division- the bald man and his flamboyant friend- Renji, some blonde guy she didn't recognize but deduced to be the fukutaichou of the third division from his badge, and the pretty girl from the tenth. Chad and Uryu were there as well, looking somewhat out of place. Orihime was beginning to wonder if they served alcohol to minors and just what Ichigo was thinking, agreeing to this, when they reached the bar.

They found a booth by the corner and everyone settled themselves down, letting out a long-suppressed sigh. Even the uptight Quincy could use a drink at this point, it seemed. The bald man had gone to get their drinks. As if able to read her thoughts, Rangiku, who was sitting next to her, said, "Don't worry, any bar in Rugonkai would sell toddlers alcohol if Madarame Ikkaku says they're with him."

Orihime nodded, bemused. Just then, the aforementioned man came back with bottles of sake and several more cups balanced on a tray.

Even before the third sake bottle was downed, Rangiku was sidling up too close to Orihime for her comfort. She started babbling on about some old childhood friend who supposedly abandoned her. This Gin or something person. Orihime's mind registered the said man as Aizen's right hand guy, and decided to listen more carefully, sympathizing with the distressed woman. Still, she couldn't shake the thought of the crime committed earlier that day out of her head. What would Rukia say if she found out? Renji had thoughtfully not invited her to the rowdy place, since she had to rest and all.

"So what's troubling you, Orihime –chan?" The voluptuous woman paused in her story to ask the listener.

As a response, Orihime gulped down yet another cup of sake.

In retrospect, she really shouldn't have done that. The rest of the night was a blur. She vaguely remembered the drinking group being joined by other members from the Gotei 13, and hearing them share their own stories drunkenly, with arms draped around each other and all. Her eyes kept flitting over to her orange-haired crush, taking in his flushed cheeks and wide grin as he laughed at something the red pineapple said. Not that the oblivious friend of hers noticed her gaze on him. Not that he ever had.

At the moment, Ichigo seemed really too close to Renji for his own good, much like the distance between her and the pretty intoxicated woman she was sitting next to. _Hmm…pretty. _There was now a new cause to down yet another jug of sake.

***

Orihime awoke to a pounding headache, the infamous beast also known as THE hangover from hell. She took her time to lie still, with her eyes closed, and tried not to recall the events last night. Not that she remembered much, anyway.

Slowly, acknowledging the feeling of bareness, Orihime noted to herself that it wasn't her style to go to bed naked. Suddenly, she forced her heavy eyelids open as mortification began to take residence in her foggy mind. _Oh crap._ She shook her head to try to clear the dizziness which took over the moment her eyes opened, and peered down, under the white sheets. _Yup. Stark naked. _

Not moments after she satisfied herself with looking around the room and recognizing it as hers did a body move under the satin sheets.

And that body was not hers.

She gave a small yelp. _Now what? _Tentatively, her fingers curled around the edge of the rumpled sheets and tugged at it, afraid of what she would see. _Please, let it not be Rangiku._

Short spikes of hair were revealed. _Ichigo?_ Tough luck, the hair was black. The body began to stir.

The face emerged. Not one she recognized. Handsome, with battle scars across one eye and a band of tattoo on another side of his cheek. _And what's with that number on his face? Did he get it after we got drunk last night?_ Orihime hoped no body part of hers was tattooed with an indication of a sex technique. Her eyes started to twitch. Violently.

Then, as the mysterious man sat up slowly and the blanket covering him began to fall, tan and toned muscles could be seen on his upper body… which was naked.

She opened her mouth to scream.

***

Shuuhei Hisagi could and would still say he'd had better mornings. Waking up to an awkward situation with another woman, not remembering the night before, sure, he could handle that. But the hangover that started to kick in as soon as he sat up and his brain registered who he had gone to bed with- _oh fuck._

The human ryoka was staring at him, wide-eyed. Such a young, pretty face. He just hoped it wasn't her first time.

She screamed. Not a girly squeak, but rather an ear-splitting cry, equipped with an incomprehensible string of swears unknown to human vocabulary.

That did little to help his massive headache, which was still on-going.

***

Gathering her wits together, Orihime stopped her incoherent tirade, if only to give herself enough time to hyperventilate. To his credit, the man just sat there, with only the faintest hint of surprise on his face.

"Morning," he ruffled his hair awkwardly, but with a composed grace suspected to originate from years of experience from waking up to this type of fix. "You're Orihime-chan, right?" He offered cautiously, as Orihime narrowed her eyes to slits. As if the fact that he knew her name was any consolation. Of course everyone knew her friggin' name. She was one of the friggin' ryoka that invaded their friggin' Seireitei for Fuck's sake.

_OK, stay calm. _She told herself. _This situation needs to be handled delicately._

"AND WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?" She found herself barking out. Heh, so much for delicacy.

"Shuuhei Hisagi, vice captain and acting captain of the ninth dividion." Tattoo face said politely. The fact that he was a high-ranking shinigami did very little to appease the situation.

"I don't fucking KNOW you. Hell, I haven't even seen you before. How the fuck did this happen?" Orihime shrieked, well aware that her voice had reached the pitch audible only to canines.

Shuuhei sighed. He wasn't sure himself.

"I saw you last night at the bar. Me and some friends went over to join your table. You were pretty drunk by then, though, which would explain why you don't remember me."

Orihime quirked an eyebrow, feeling rather bitchy at the moment. "Oh? So what, you just took advantage of a drunken woman?"

Shuuhei closed his eyes, willing the headache to go away. He's had enough of this. Girls usually would THROW themselves at him.

"I mistook you for Rangiku, OK?" Even as the words left his mouth, Shuuhei tried to swallow them back. Too late. He mentally slapped himself.

There was utter silence. Then-

"NO IT'S NOT OK." The girl fumed, clearly livid. "GET OUT!"

On a second though, Orihime seemed to reconsider. "Actually, stay here. I get to go first."

And with what dignity that was left to muster, Orihime stood up from the bed with long sheets clutched tightly around her chest, and waded out of the room.

***

A/N: This story has a plot, I swear. It'll soon be revealed in the next chapters ;)

Even though Orihime is this fic is less girly and all, it doesn't mean she's a completely different person. Her appearance, background history, and the quirks we love are still there. Let me know what you lovely people think?


	2. The Big Idea

Chapter 2: The Big Idea

After a quick shower and a change of clothes, Orihime stalked out of her temporary residence in the shinigami neighborhood with the intent of finding someone from their drinking group. She decided the eleventh division would be a good place to start. On her way there, however, she ran into the tenth division vice captain.

Rangiku looked like she had a slight hangover as well, but was dressed neatly in her usual uniform, on her way to report to work. Orihime vaguely remembered her mentioning something about her captain being in need of a having a stick removed from his ass. _So that's why she was hurrying._

The big beauty stopped in her track as she saw Orihime.

"Hey!" Rangiku waved, walking up to her. "How are ya?"

Orihime inaudibly growled. She did not need to tell anyone what happened. Unless the bastard bragged, of course. At the moment, she wanted some questions answered.

"Hey Rangiku. How was last night?" Orihime asked nonchalantly. Perhaps she could figure out just what exactly happened without drawing attention to herself.

"Hm? Last night?" Rangiku scrunched up her face slightly in thought. She looked pretty dazed herself. Orihime wanted to smack her own forehead, if that wasn't going to add to the headache, which was now throbbing at a slow tempo.

"Yeah, last night. We went out, remember?" She urged.

"Of course I remember," Rangiku pouted, indignant. "I just didn't understand your question."

"How- was- last- night?" Orihime repeated her question, grinding out each syllable.

"Good..?" Rangiku ventured, still not getting it. Upon deciding it'd have been better to say more, she added, "the sake at that bar was nice."

The thin, invisible thread inside Orihime snapped. " I meant, what happened last night?" She half-shouted. Rangiku looked taken aback by the raise of voice.

"We went out drinking!" The older woman said hurriedly, sounding very much like someone trying to appease a mad man.

Taking a deep, shuddering breath, Orihime prayed for more patience. She tried again.

"Do you remember how we got back home?" She said, this time more calmly. "'Cos I sure as hell can't." She feigned a hearty laugh, which came out more like a nervous chuckle. Rangiku narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"Actually, I was pretty much wiped out by the end of it all, so I wouldn't know." The blonde said, tilting her head. "Why?"

"Oh, you know," Orihime piped up quickly, "just because I woke up this morning and wondered who brought me back home, that's all." She conveniently left out the crucial detail.

"Right." Rangiku nodded, deciding to let it go. Her face suddenly brightened up. "I might not remember how I got back, but guess who I saw hitting it off last night."

"Who?"

"Renji and that boy Ichigo!" Rangiku sniggered. Oh, so it wasn't just her imagination, after all.

"Did they…" Orihime started, not sure if she wanted to know, "by any chance go home together?"

"Probably!" Rangiku squealed, obviously more than excited at the possibility. Orihime winced from the sheer energy radiated off the blonde.

"I'll…" Orihime turned to leave, in a daze, "be leaving, then."

"Oh wait!" Rangiku grabbed her arm, still full of that cheerful energy. "I should warn you."

"About what?" Orihime leaned back slightly from the touch, dreading another gossip from the woman's mouth.

"That Shuuhei might be trying to come after you today."

Orihime's mouth fell at the mention of the name.

Rangiku giggled, "Maybe I should've pointed it out to you before, but he seemed really into you when we were drinking."

_Well, too late, Einstein. _Orihime gritted her teeth, "And why, if I may ask, would he be?"

"Oh honey!" Rangiku laughed, slapping a hand over her shoulder. "All the guys probably worship you by now, after that story you told last night."

Orihime felt her face drain of any colours she possessed. _Was I really that hammered? Nah, it couldn't have been that I-_

"What…exactly was the story I told?" She asked in apprehension.

"Why, of how you owned Captain Kuchiki, of course!" Rangiku grinned. "I have to say I'm still impressed myself."

There were no words even remotely adequate enough to describe the terror that swooped down on her. _Oh shit. There was no one there when it happened. It's bad enough that I spat on him. Spat on him! Now if word gets out and he hears of it, he'd think I've been bragging like the perfect jerk!_

"Well, I gotta go. My taichou will be mad if I'm any more late," Rangiku sighed, walking away.

"Rangiku-san, wait!" Orihime started, but the blonde was gone in a flit of shunpo.

On the verge of a nervous breakdown, Orihime walked on to the opposite direction, her legs feeling like clumps of jelly. She didn't know where she was going. Her first priority of the day had been to find out what transpired between her and that Hisagi, but now she had a more pressing issue to worry about.

To say that this was a stressful day was a horrendous understatement.

Hence, as of recently robbed of her previous aim, Orihime started to consider spending the rest of her adolescent hood in hiding. She was just rounding the corner when she bumped into someone. She gave a small squeak, immediately becoming embarrassed for feeling so paranoid. The tall man in front of her was none other than Shuuhei.

"Oh, it's you." She said flatly.

"I've been looking all over for you," Shuuhei said, slightly out of breath.

Orihime quirked an eyebrow. "What do you want, advantage-taker?.

"I am NOT an advantage taker." He replied indignantly. "It was an accident! I don't even remember how it happened!"

There was an awkward pause.

"And I feel awful about what I said. I didn't mean it. Obviously you look nothing like Rangiku-san," He pleaded, sounding genuine. "I'm sorry we had to meet in such a manner."

Orihime snorted.

"No, really! Please accept my apology." The vice captain inclined his head in a small bow.

Orihime considered this. "No."

"What?" Taken aback, Hisagi blinked a few times. Then, shaking his head, he tried again. "But you have too! Because I really mean it. I won't be able to rest until I've settled things between us. It wasn't my intention to-"

"I don't care."

"Listen here, you," Shuuhei shifted his weight, and for a moment there Orihime thought he was going to swing a punch at her. "I'm not the jerk you seem to think I am. If only you'd ask around, people would tell you that I'm-"

He stopped abruptly, catching sight of someone approaching them. Orihime turned around. Rukia was some distance away, grinning widely. She seemed to have recovered considerably.

"Orihime!" The small girl called out, jogging towards them.

"What's up, Rukia?" Orihime smiled.

"Nii-sama wants to see you."

Orihime's smile faltered.

"Waah?" She mananged to form a coherent question.

"I know, right?" Rukia grinned, clearly pleased at this turn of events. "How nice of him to get to know my friends! I swear, Orihime, if you meet my brother you'll like him too."

Orihime stared at her.

"Well, c'mon! Don't keep him waiting," Rukia said, oblivious to her friend's exponentially growing horror. She grabbed the redhead's wrist and proceeded to drag her away.

Shuuhei could only watch in bemusement.

***

The Sixth Division was a familiar sight as Orihime once again found herself in front of the large gate.

Feeling as if in a dream, and she indeed tried to convince herself she was dreaming, Orihime let herself be led up the steps to the Captain's office.

The noble was there, seated quietly at his desk. A great, intimidating figure. His white-clad hand held a brush elegantly, and was going over some paperwork.

Orhime caught sight of the fukutaichou. Renji looked up from his own desk, which was perpendicular to Byakuya's. Once the redhead realized who came into his division, a look of gleeful surprise came over him. Orihime was perplexed, as the vice captain continued to stare at her in awe, a look suited for a man who thought God was walking among them.

He quickly glanced at his captain, then back at her, his eyes gleaming as if hopeful of witnessing another spectacle.

"Renji, please leave us." Byakuya ordered, acknowledging the newcomers' entrance, though not looking up from his work.

"But captain!" The redhead wailed, resembling a kid who just had his candy taken from him. Quickly inventing a lame excuse, he blurted out, "I need to finish my report!"

Bykuya finally looked up from his desk, giving his subordinate an icy glare.

"Alright, fine. I'm leaving." Renji threw his arms up and hurried out the room.

Byakuya turned his attention to the two girls. He nodded to Rukia.

Getting the signal, Rukia turned to leave as well. "I'll see you later then, Orihime," She said in encouragement.

Orihime stared silently after her. _Didn't she understand that she won't be seeing me, like, EVER AGAIN? _

Once outside, Rukia finally turned around, to Orihime's joy. She tried to put all her energy into communicating via telepathy with her best friend. _Come back! Your brother's a psychotic, revenge-seeking maniac who is this close to murdering me._

Rukia gave her a thumbs up and shut the door.

"Have a seat," Byakuya simply said, his tone devoid of any emotions.

For the first time that morning, Orihime noticed his scarf to be exceptionally white, even more so than it already was the last time she saw him, as if it had been recently washed. She gulped.

With trepidation, Orihime approached the desk and hesitantly sat herself on the chair provided in front of it.

"What do you want?" She blurted out, realizing that it probably sounded rude. She couldn't help it- the anxiety was overbearing.

"I wish to express my regret at what came to pass in our last, brief meeting." He started, his voice as calm as ever. "It was certainly a misfortune that you chose that particular moment to let your bodily functions be displayed."

Orihime gaped at the man.

"So, in turn, I am willing to accept your sincere apology, if presented appropriately." He continued.

"Excuse me?"

"Inoue-san, I am not one to dwell on such trivial matters. It is of very little difficulty for me to let bygones be bygones. That is, if you would kindly apologize for the accident."

"Like hell I would!" Orihime bellowed, standing up indignantly from the chair. Terrified she might've been, but she sure was not sorry for what she's done.

Byakuya raised an eyebrow. "I see."

There was a moment of pause, before the taichou opened his mouth once again. "In that case I must-"

Whatever Byakuya wanted to do, Orihime didn't find out. At that moment the door slid open and a young-looking shinigami came in.

"Kuchiki-taichou," the baby-faced man bowed, clearly nervous. _That makes two of us._

"I've been entrusted to relay the message that the captains' meeting is to start in five minutes." He panted, obviously pleased with himself for completing the important task.

Byakuya nodded. However, the man would not leave. The noble quirked an eyebrow.

"Is there anything else?"

"Well, sir," his subordinate fidgeted. "I've been meaning to ask you-"

"Can't this wait?" Byakuya said with an edge of impatience. Or annoyance, it was hard to tell. "I have a guest at the moment." He gestured to the seat opposite him.

Orihime leapt at the chance of survival. "Actually," she gave the unnamed shinigami her winning smile, "I was just leaving. Please feel free to take your time in here." Quickly, she stalked towards the door, already feeling the captain moving slightly in his chair, about to protest.

She had to hurry. Already, her vivid imagination had explored many horrible possibilities. If Byakuya indeed decided to do something about it, he could easily take out the lower-ranked officer. One weakling shinigami equals no witnesses.

Disregarding any pride she had left, Orihime sprinted out the room, feeling ridiculously like a child as she did so.

Once outside the Sixth Division's front gate, she let out a sigh. Rukia was nowhere to be seen, Orihime noted with satisfaction. This would make slinking away that much easier…

She turned and rammed into a body. A hard, calloused one. Staggering backwards, she looked up at the offender.

"You again?"

"Hi there," Shuuhei grinned.

She groaned. "What is it now?"

"I'd just like to let you know that I won't leave you alone until you accept my apology." The tattooed man said, eyes glinting with what Orihime deduced to be sadistic determination.

"You're not serious." She glared at him.

Ignoring her statement, he changed the subject. "So why did Kuchiki-taichou want to see you, anyway? Are you in trouble?"

Orihime suspected he already knew the answer. "None of your business." She replied curtly, turning to walk away.

"OK!" Shuuhei called after her. "But remember that I won't give up till you accept my apology!"

To Orihime's utter annoyance, he kept his word.

The following days were just plain absurd. Orihime would round the corner and run smack into the dark-haired fukutaichou, who apparently had nothing better to do than to just stand there, grinning like an idiot, waiting for her to give up. She had thoughtfully suggested he go back to his squad (where he was supposed to be in the first place, seeing as how it was in the middle of a working day), and then proceed to shrivel up and die, to which he merely gave her another grin. Orihime wondered if this was a way for him to cope with losing his captain. Different people had different ways they dealt with tragedies, perhaps Hisagi's way was to completely lose it and abandon his work in order to pursue a childish game.

One afternoon, not able to take it anymore, Orihime confronted him. She stopped in her tracks, and felt the man who had been following her for the past two kilometers do the same.

"Are you stalking me?" She asked, a little too tiredly. She hadn't been able to get a good night's sleep since the day she ran out of Byakuya's office. The anticipation of the Kuchiki heir seeking his revenge would catch up to her every five minutes, or so it seemed. She had a vague memory of how life used to be like before this ridiculous series of events transpired. Of course, it had crossed her mind that maybe she was over-thinking things, that perhaps she was being too paranoid. But Orihime had an unsettling hypothesis that ever since she unintentionally spat on the Kuchiki, things started going downhill from there. Developing paranoia, underage drinking, waking up to a stranger, acquiring a stalker. Somehow she blamed this all on Byakuya.

"No," the tattooed man replied, catching up to where she was standing. "I thought I told you already, I will not give up until you-"

"Until I accept your apology, I know." Orihime growled.

"So, what's it gonna be?" Shuuehi asked, smirking.

"No." Orihime clenched her fists. "And frankly, if you don't very well leave me alone, my Tsubaki's gonna cut you down to such small pieces a dog won't be able to find them."

"Tsubaki?" Shuuhei eyed her hairpins. "Oh, you mean the fairy?" His apparent struggle to keep a straight face was not subtle. "OK, sure." He managed to breathe out. Then, his face turned serious. "Why are you so stubborn, woman?" He sighed, almost in resignation. "I've been apologizing over and over. You think it's fun for me?"

"I never asked for your apologies, so save them."

Shaking his head, he said "What will I have to do to prove to you that I really am sorry?"

Orihime looked at him.

"I would do anything for you to accept my apology." Shuuhei added humbly. His pride as a man and as a shinigami was at stake, after all. He couldn't have the guest of Seireitei going off thinking he was some kind of an asshole slash pervert…

"Anything?" Orihime repeated, seemingly amused.

Shuuhei gulped. "Anything apart from shriveling up and die, that is."

Maybe it was the midday sun beating down over head, or maybe Orihime's lost some of her marbles along the way, but she cackled. Yes, cackled.

Feeling exhausted from all the stress accumulating over the days, Orihime was sure she looked close to deranged at this point. _Fuck this._

"I want you to kick Kuchki Byakuya's ass."

"Excuse me?" Shuuhei, who was distracted by her unexpected cackling, instinctively took a step backward.

"You heard me, tattoo boy." Now it was her turn to grin.

"It sounded like you wanted me to kick, whose ass now?" Shuuhei stared at her.

"What? Don't tell me you were expecting some sort of a heroic task. Like crossing the seven seas and climbing the highest mountains, perhaps?" Orihime said tauntingly, feeling beside herself.

Shuuhei frowned. Crossing seas and climbing mountains sounded simple enough, seeing as how, you know, he had shunpo and all.

"Hell, you don't even have to beat him in a fight or anything. That much I won't expect from you," Orihime went on with her rant. "Just, you know, _literally _kick his ass!"

Shuuhei continued to stare at her.

Orihime smiled in triumph, having won this "game". After deciding that he wouldn't be moving, let alone following her, anytime soon, she walked off, leaving him standing there in the street with the most priceless look on his face.

***

A/N: The next chapter, in which Byakuya's ass is kicked, will be up soon. Let me know how you liked this chapter, will ya? XD


	3. The Trial from Hell

A/N: Thank you so much for the amazing reviews and enthusiasm. You guys rock!

Chapter 3: The Trial from Hell

Shuuhei Hisagi was having a dilemma.

The dark-haired fukutaichou knew himself all too well, knew that he was a man of his word. Ironically enough, he also knew that if he were to follow through with the crazy girl's request, he could very well kiss his vice captain position goodbye, and more than likely, his head as well.

But what would a man like him have left if he turned his back on a promise? He was a proud shinigami, damnit. And a vice captain at that.

It's been one day since Orihime's insane idea. One long, agonizing, internally-struggling day.

It was now morning, and Shuuhei was standing in a street bustled with shinigami of all ranks and ages who were making their ways to report to work. He wasn't sure who he was waiting for, or what he was going to do, for that matter. Feeling positively like a prisoner on his execution day, his eyes scanned the crowd around him, resting on a few faces he recognized.

And as fate would have it, there was Kuchiki Taichou. Walking right by him. Ever so perfectly composed, making his way towards the Sixth Division, all too unaware of Shuuhei's frenzied gaze on his back.

Shuuhei's viewing scope, at that moment, chose to also pick up the human girl on the other side of the street. Inoue Orihime, the red-haired beauty, the cause of all his troubles, was enthusiastically chatting with the substitute shinigami Kurosaki.

Shuuhei hesitated. If he was going to do this, he'd do it like a man. Now was possibly the best opportunity to carry out his obnoxious plan- with all these witnesses and Orihime in the crime scene. But on the other hand…

She hadn't seen him yet. There was still a chance to quickly turn around and-

NO! He, Shuuhei Hisagi, Vice Captain of the Ninth Division and a proud shinigami, would not back out on his promise! Taking in a deep breath, convinced more than anything that it would be his last, Shuuhei lifted up his foot.

And gave Captain Kuchiki a good nudge.

***

"What are you doing today, Ichigo?" Orihime was asking, her expression helplessly resembling that of a puppy whose master had finally come home. She couldn't help it, whenever she was in the presence of this guy, she just…

"Ah, I think I'll head over to the Eleventh and spar with Ikkaku again," her endearing strawberry replied with that sexy voice of his. His expression soft, those kind, brown eyes resting on her. _Gahh…I could just…_

Orihime, however, was cruelly snapped out of her daydream. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Shuuhei. Having been stalked by the man for god knows how many days, she now seemed to have a built-in radar which beeped with alarm whenever he was in the vicinity. The internal alarm was unusually loud today, though. _It's almost as if-_

Noting that the tattooed man indeed looked nervous, she followed her former stalker's gaze to the imposing figure in front of him. Her large, grey eyes widened automatically, having caught sight of her other tormentor. The stalker AND the tormentor so close to each other? Something was hideously wrong. _Wait, don't tell me he-_

Just then, the vice captain lifted his right foot, which was dangerously close to the noble's backside. Orihime's jaw dropped. _That idiot! He can't possibly be-_

Orihime watched in paralyzing horror as Shuuhei's straw sandal connected firmly on Byakuya's butt.

The world froze.

Every shinigami seemed to have stopped walking, and silence descended upon Seireitei. How they miraculously managed all at the same time to witness what transpired between Shuuhei and Byakuya was beyond her.

The Kuchiki stopped in his tracks, surprised. He turned around to face a dark-haired man who was laying prostrate on the ground in submission.

"Kuchiki Taichou! I'm sorry,sir. I'm very, very sorry. My most sincere apologies-" the vice captain was babbling.

Thirty more ways of rapid apologizing later, Shuuhei finally paused to take a breath. Byakuya was not impressed.

"I don't know what came over you, Vice Captain Hisagi, but I can assure you that offending a higher-ranked officer will not go unpunished." Kuchiki said coolly.

_Jesus…_

And she thought her troubles were over since Shuuhei ceased to stalk her and all. Orihime grimaced, her migraine revisited.

Beside her, finally out of his stupor, Ichigo began a slow clap.

***

That afternoon, Orihime found out from Renji where Shuuhei was being kept. They were now standing in front of the officers cells. Renji, Kira, Ikkaku and Yumichika wanted to pay Shuuhei a visit, and Orihime asked to tag along.

The guards had let them through easily. On the ground floor of the building were small cells arranged on both sides of a walkway. All were empty, except one.

Shuuhei was sitting cross-legged on the bare floor, his expression solemn. By the looks of it, he must've been in that same position for some good hours now.

"How are ya doing, man?" Renji greeted, his hands grasping on the metal bars.

"Splendid, as a matter of fact," Shuuhei grinned sarcastically up at them. Then, seeing who was among his friends, he frowned.

"What's SHE doing here?"

Guilt-ridden, Orihime stepped up from behind the group and towards the bars.

"The beautiful princess had nothing better to do and decided to grace a prisoner with her radiance," Yumichika chimed in, touched.

Ignoring her companion's idiocy, Orihime looked directly at the tattooed man.

"Why'dya do it?" She demanded.

"Someone told me I'd be forgiven if I kept the promise." He said defiantly.

She shook her head. "You're silly, know that?"

"Well, this silly's gonna get his head chopped off any time now." Shuuhei chuckled, somewhat bitterly.

While she enjoyed the dark humour, the fact that it came out of some else's mouth rather than hers was more than a little disconcerting.

"But dude! That was some serious ownage!" Ikkaku interrupted, clearly impressed.

"Hell yeah!" Renji put in loudly. "First Orihime, now you too? Man, I really need to contribute to the cause." The latter he mumbled to himself.

"Dude, didn't you like, as of recently, try to pwn Byakuya but got ridiculously ripped to shreds?" Ikkaku raised an eyebrow.

Renji growled in response.

"Anyway," Orihime said, in an attempt to steer the conversation back towards civilization, "what's the penalty for offending an officer, do you know?"

"Well, if the matter was between average officers…" Kira scrunched up his face in thought, "it'd all be solved in a few days. If the offender was an unseated officer offending someone of a much higher rank like Captain Kuchiki, they'd most likely be dead."

Orihime stared at him.

"But fortunately," Kira brightened up, "if the offender is a vice captain such as Shuuhei, he'd only be in jail for a few months."

"Months?" Orihime echoed the blonde, bewildered.

"Yeah," Kira nodded, "that is, if Captain Kuchiki doesn't press charges against him."

"Well, establishing that he does?" She urged.

"Oh, then we're screwed."

Shuuhei had his face in his hands.

"Don't worry, buddy, the trial for this case will be exceptional," Renji tried to comfort his sempai.

"I'm sure," Shuuhei grunted.

"No, really," the redhead continued, "I heard that there's nothing scheduled in Sereitei this week, so they're having your trial tomorrow!"

"What? Tomorrow?" Shuuhei looked up, startled.

"Yeah, and old man Yamamoto is going to be the judge," Kira added.

"You're not serious," Orihime said, equally horrified at the news.

"Apparently they're in desperate need to show us shinigami that they still have everything in Seireitei under control. And well, after Aizen's crazy little stunt, nothing's been happening lately, and it's not like the Central 46 is in any position to pass out judgment at this point." Kira explained.

"Aw…Fuck." Shuuhei hung his head, defeated by the irony of life which was apparently out to get him.

"So, who are we choosing to be your lawyer?" Kira asked, edging closer to the cell.

Yumichika elbowed him out of the way. "Yeah, which of us fine gentlemen do you want to represent you?" He straightened himself considerably.

"Wait, you can just pick anyone to be a lawyer?" Orihime asked, bemused.

"Sure, why not?" Renji said, brushing her aside. "Pick me, Shuuhei! Izuru's a total push-over, and Yumichika will be too busy checking out who's hot in the courtroom. I'm you only chance."

"Hey!" Kira protested. "Unlike you, I have some experience in matters of formality and proper conduct."

"Yeah, yeah, can it." Ikkaku said, pushing Kira to the back of the group.

"You guys!" Kira whined.

_Shuuhei's gotta be crazy to choose any of these imbeciles._

"Cut it out, will ya?" The prisoner said wearily. "I'll have Izuru represent me, end of story."

"But he's blonde!" Yumichika unnessarily pointed out, flipping his dark hair.

"What are you, trying to repopularize the blonde jokes?" Kira said indignantly.

Orihime, having decided she'd had enough of this madness for one day, quietly exited the freak show.

***

"As we are currently short on members of the Central 46 to pass judgment, we have four captains who kindly lent us their time today as our jury, who will act as witnesses to this trial. However, I shall be the acting judge and make the final decision." Captain Yamamoto's voice resonated through the crowded space. "Let the trial for Vice Captain Shuuhei Hisagi now begin." There was a thump made by the wooden staff on the floor, and the whole court erupted in low murmurs.

Orihime surveyed the room they were in. Not surprisingly, several people had attended, seated and unseated shinigami officers alike. News of the ass-kicking incident had spread through Seireitei faster than one could say _holy crap._

Her gaze flitted to the four captains- the jury. There was the kind lady she recognized to be from the Forth Division, Rukia's captain, Kenpachi, _of all people, _and the Second Division's captain. _Boy, that bitch did not look happy._

"Bring in the perpetrator."

The voices died down as Shuuhei entered, handcuffed, led by the guards. Orihime tried not to wince. Was it just her or were they taking this too seriously? She was standing in the audience area with Ichigo on one side, and Rukia on the other. The latter was muttering curses at the vice captain under her breath. Orihime tried not to roll her eyes. Behind her were Renji and the gang, including Uryu and Chad who had no where else to be that day.

"Shuuhei Hisagi, who is presenting your case?" Yamamoto's voice boomed again.

"Izuru Kira, sir," the blonde fukutaichou made his appearance.

They both took a seat in front of the high table where the captains were seated, their backs facing the audience. Byakuya was sitting at another desk adjacent to theirs. He was without a lawyer.

"Vice Captain Hisagi, you are charged with offence of the highest level to Captain Kuchiki of the Sixth Division, head of the noble Kuchiki clan, what do you plead?" Yamamoto said.

"Guilty." Shuuhei admitted blandly.

Orihime wanted to smack his head.

"It is wise to do so," Yamamoto nodded, "there was a street full of witnesses when the atrocity took place."

_Atrocity? Was this guy for real?_

"Now, it is only the matter of selecting a suitable punishment," the old man continued, looking at the stand of jury, "what do the captains think?"

Kenpachi's face cracked into a feral grin. It was not a pretty sight.

"Personally, I think Kuchiki-hime had it coming," the crude man began bluntly. "and we should all like give the boy a medal or something."

Yamamoto stared at the Eleventh Division's captain, shaking his head disapprovingly.

"Why, remind me again, are you here, Zaraki-taichou?"

"Why? You sent a letter requesting my presence here, old man. Or did ya forget?"

"I remember asking Hitsugaya-taichou to act as one of the jury," Yamamoto said, his voice strained.

"Well he couldn't make it, and our divisions are close to each other, ya see." Kenpachi grinned, satisfied with his vague explanation.

Yamamoto began to wonder what had become of the boy genius.

Pushing the thought aside, he now turned to the white-haired captain.

"Ukitake?"

"Well I personally think-"

But he was cut off by the Second Division's captain, who banged her fist on the table.

"It is clearly unacceptable! Such insolence deserves-"

"Now, now, little girl, there's nothing to get worked up about." Kenpachi said with such ease, if Orihime didn't know better she'd think he wasn't trying to pick a fight.

Soi Fong's eye twitched at the "little girl" phrase, but kept her temper in check. "Nothing to get worked up about, you say?"

"Of course not, so what if Kuchiki's prissy little ass got pwned, by a man, nonetheless. It was totally expected." The bell-wearing captain said airily, making a rude gesture in the noble's direction. The room was suddenly filled with the scent of sakura blossoms.

"Zaraki-taichou, do remove yourself from the jury stand at once." Yamamoto demanded.

"Fine. But if anything happens to that boy, you won't hear the last of me yet." Kenpachi got up, chuckling to himself.

With the man gone, the tension in the room decreased somewhat.

Unnerved, Yamamoto tried to resume command. "Now then, Kuchiki-taichou. Do you have something to say about this?"

"Well," Byakuya got up from his chair, "I would like to hear Shuuhei on the witness stand."

Yamamoto nodded his consent. Shuuhei got up and walked towards the front. Once seated, he looked at Byakuya expectantly.

"Hisagi fukutaichou, what possessed you to commit such an outrageous act in the eye of the public?"

Shuuhei licked his dry lips. "I cannot say, sir."

"Is that so?" Byakuya said, his tone deadly.

Orihime shut her eyes, she couldn't stand the look on Shuuhei's face. This was all her fault.

"You do realize, don't you, that I will not hesitate to press charges against a lower-ranked officer such as yourself." Byakuya went on.

"Yes, sir." Shuuhei said in submission.

"And you also realize, of course, that for such an act, you will be sentenced to jail for at least one month, if not two?"

"Permission to speak, sir!" Kira interrupted, thrusting his hand up in the air.

"Granted," Yamamoto nodded.

Orihime had an unsettling suspicion that none of them had actually carried out a trial procedure before, be it as a lawyer or as a judge.

"Well, sir, a month or two is an awfully long time," Kira stated the obvious.

"You don't say," Byakuya drawled.

"And well," the blonde went on with his reasoning, ignoring the remark, "the Ninth Division really cannot afford to lose their vice captain, too. Especially not at this moment."

"He's right, Soutaichou," Captain Ukitake put in, while Uohana nodded in agreement.

"Are you saying we should just let this little stunt slip by, unpunished?" Soi Fong screeched.

Not able to take it anymore, Orihime spoke up.

"I did it!"

The whole court turned to look at her. Her friends' jaws dropped in unison. Shuuhei's eyes bulged out.

Yamamoto seemed taken aback. "Inoue-san, it will not do to interrupt a court procedure."

"But I did it! Don't blame Shuuhei, it was my fault!" Orihime found herself desperately ranting.

"Shut up, you idiot," Shuuhei shouted from where he was seated on the stand.

"No, I would like to hear what Inoue-san has to say about this." Byakuya said calmly, suddenly interested.

"Very well then, Hisagi fukutaichou, step down from the stand. And Inoue-san, take his seat, if you will."

Orihime made her way to the front. Once there, however, Shuuhei refused to budge. He was giving her a glare, which was quite scary, to be honest. Discreetly, Orihime tried to yank him off the chair.

"Hisagi Fukutaichou, please step down from the stand." Yamamoto repeated.

Hesitantly, Shuuhei complied.

"Now then, Inoue-san, explain yourself."

Orihime took a deep breath. "It's so stupid!" She blurted out. "I was only joking, who knew people here take promises so seriously?"

"In answer to your question, we shinigami do in fact take promises seriously," Byakuya said coldly, "and what promise might you be referring too?"

Not wanting the whole of shinigami population to learn of her drinking accident, Orihime settled for the next best thing- a lie.

"Shuuhei was just being an idiot, really, trying to impress a girl, ya know? He said he'd do anything I wanted, so I asked him to kick Bykuya's butt."

The audience gasped. _Oh spare me the theatrics._

"It didn't occur to me that he'd take it seriously." Orhime went on. "Apparently there's this shinigami pride and shit, who knew? I didn't." _This is disastrous! _Everything was flowing out of her mouth like word vomit "I'm stupid. And this was all my fault. So why don't you just let him go, since his division can't do without him and all." Even as she said it, Orihime raised an eyebrow incredulously at her own speech. Maybe Ichigo's morals were rubbing off on her.

"It makes no sense to keep a good officer locked up when he could very well be doing something useful." _Yeah, like stalking people. _She tried to stop the next sentence coming out of her mouth as well, with little success.

"Punish me instead."

Yamamoto considered this new proposal, while Shuuhei was busy trying to murder her with his stare.

"This is certainly interesting," Yamamto fingered his beard distractedly. "Someone taking the place of a convict, huh. I suppose it would depend on the victim to decide if he will accept the arrangement." He turned to Byakuya, who could barely keep his cool with the obvious glee radiating off his being.

"Yes, I would be willing to excuse Hisagi fukutaichou if Inoue-san would take his place."

"What? But you can't just-" Shuuhei stood up from his seat, sending the chair rocketing back with a loud clang.

"Hisagi, we have no need for your presence here. You are free to resume your vice captain duties." Yamamoto stated calmly.

"No! This is absurd!" Shuuhei spluttered.

"Guards, see Hisagi fukutaichou to the exit." Yamamoto ordered. Two guards appeared and proceeded to drag the protesting vice captain out the room.

There was silence. Then Yamamoto spoke up.

"Now, what should I do with you?" He looked at Orihime, more likely musing to himself than directing the question at her.

"Soutaichou, do allow me to propose a suitable punishment for Inoue Orihime-san." Kuchiki interrupted politely, much to Orihime's growing horror. Given a nod from Yamamoto, he went on.

"I am willing to take the said convict under my care as an apprentice, so that she may learn the enlightenment of our ways." He looked around the room, professionally catching the attention of the jury. "Inoue-san is a guest of Soul Society, and so needs to be treated as such, despite her small misfortunes of wrongdoings." Here, the corner of his thin lips curved ever so slightly into a dangerous smile, his tone flowing like silk.

Orihime heard the internal alarm in her head go off.

"As she had said herself, she is not aware of the proper conducts of Soul Society, recently displayed by her doubt in vice captain Hisagi completing his promise. For this reason, I do believe that she needs to be taught manners and disciplines, as seen appropriate by the shinigami's community…"

It was a known fact that every noble was raised to excel at everything deemed necessary by their family. Public speaking being one of them. At the moment, Kuchiki Byakuya was droning on and on about plausible reasons to let Orihime fall under his care. Persuasive arguments… NOT. Orihime was willing to bet her hairpins that no one witnessing her calamity in the courtroom bought what the Kuchiki was saying.

There was another known fact: everyone in Seireitei, and within its fifty miles radius, had heard of the noble Kuchiki Byakuya, captain of the Sixth Division and head of one of the four most revered clans in Soul Society, being spat on by a human girl. It seemed that news traveled fast within days after the fateful occurrence, thanks to the loudest broadcast known to shinigami, aka one drunken Matsumoto Rangiku.

In addition, Orihime was all too aware of Kuchiki's reputed tendency to quietly hold a grudge, seek out sadistic, sweet revenge, and make sure his enemy was painfully sorry ever after. Anyone who was not blind in the room could see through this mask of rationality he was putting on.

As irony would have it, Orihime noticed at that moment that Yamamotou-soutaichou had his eyes closed, and was drinking in every word the Kuchiki uttered, nodding his head in agreement. That had to be it. A definite sign for her impending doom. Orihime silently prayed for sudden telepathy, so she may specifically leave Ichigo the task of writing her eulogy.

Ichigo would no doubt voice his objections to the likely outcome, if not violently, supported by a more reasonable Uryu, and a calmer Chad. All to be turned down by the council, nonetheless. That was how Soul Society worked, Orihime had learned it the hard way. The ever so humble Rukia would certainly oppose to this arrangement, but never let her thoughts be heard. Not in front of her intimidating brother, anyway. And definitely not while a part of her thought Orihime needed punishment for offending his holy highness so.

Realizing that there was no getting out of this, Orihime sighed. She had a newfound affection towards her oh so helpful friends.

Some daydreams of faraway places and possible ways to die later, Orihime snapped out of her too-vivid-for-own-good imagination as Yamamoto made a thunk with his staff on the wooden floor.

"As of now and from today onwards, I hereby sentence Inoue Orihime to reside at the Kuchiki estate and dutifully attend every one-on-one lecture Kuchiki-taichou may thoughtfully provide during the upcoming period of thirty days." The old geezer made another thunk with his wooden staff.

Woo Fucking Hoo.

***


	4. Of Manners and Disciplines

A/N: Sorry for the wait, guys. I know the "I've been soooo busy" excuse just doesn't cut it. But anyway, here's the next chapter!

***

Chapter 4: Of Manners and Disciplines

There was a melodious sound of running water, indicating a small, peaceful stream nearby. The weather was perfect, with a refreshing breeze and the calm rustling of spring leaves. The late afternoon sun was behind them, as they entered the Kuchiki estate. Servants rushed to greet them at the large gate, and the scenic view of the traditional manor loomed into sight.

The convict, however, was far from happy.

Orihime had rightfully bitched about her duty at school, which was due to start in approximately one week. Her friends would be back to the real world by then. Rukia, however, (not so) comfortingly assured her that she would pop some soul candy in Orihime's gigai, which was now being ordered by the Soutaichou to be manufactured. Orihime couldn't resist the urge to roll her eyes. Tatsuki would undoubtedly notice that the replacement was not her, sooner or later. She kept that comment to herself, however, as there was nothing she could do about it. Besides, she had some time to threaten Uryu to help the gigai keep her grades up. She didn't want to risk losing her perfect school records, academy-wise, that is. Teacher's complaints of her misbehaviour were steadily climbing beyond repair. She wondered if the soul candy would startle everyone by behaving nicely, of all things.

Upon entering the mansion, Byakuya had ordered the servants to take Orihime's luggage up to her room, which was apparently on the second floor. She, however, did not get to go there at the moment, nor did she get a grand tour of the house.

Orihime's observant nature had picked up slight changes in the noble's expression (or lack thereof) since the time they arrived at the estate. Byakuya now looked…scarier, if that was even possible. He seemed to be enjoying her moving day more than what was considered a healthy amount, if the sadistic glint in his eyes was any indication. But then again, it could very well be that she had imagined it.

With a turn and a flow of the scarf accompanying the movement, Byakuya somehow managed to get Orihime to follow him down the corridor without a single word. It seemed that he wanted to get started right away.

They arrived in a large room which would appear to be in a wing of the house. It had no furniture, except for a wooden cupboard standing to the side. The floor was laid with tatami matting. Although the room was too plain for Orihime's liking, she had to admit that it held an air of elegance, just like the rest of the house. There were paper doors on the other side of the room, which were opened, revealing a beautiful, traditional garden outside.

Byakuya settled himself on a purple cushion, the only cushion available in the room, and it was only then that Orihime noticed the two big pieces of paper on the floor. She suddenly realized what this room was.

"Here's a piece of paper and a brush, I want you to write the words 'manner' and 'discipline' in anyway you see fit." The Kuchiki heir stated, picking up his own brush. "We are now to work in silence."

Nodding, Orihime shuffled to the center of the room and sat herself across from the imposing man. She picked up her brush and looked down at the blank sheet of paper in front of her. It was rather large, so she supposed she had to paint that thing instead of just writing on it. She had some calligraphy classes a few years back, albeit with little success, so she wasn't completely at a loss.

She dipped the brush in an inkwell provided, and positioned it on top of the paper. Clearly this was part of the punishment, sort of like being made to write an essay when one did something wrong at school. Grudgingly, Orihime set to work.

An hour or two must've passed. _Or a century._ Well, maybe not that long, but Orihime's legs began to ache from sitting seiza, and her chicken scratch of a handwriting did not prove pleasing to the eye. She kept glancing up at Byakuya, who was quietly nearing his completion of the perfect calligraphy. Something told her she should not interrupt.

It was all so abysmally stupid, Orihime could cry. But she didn't, oh no, she wouldn't give that bastard the satisfaction.

She shifted on her seating position. It would've been just fine if she could sit cross-legged like she was used to. But no… the noble had to look at her so disapprovingly like she was some sort of an alien, from Mars, flashing him. So she copied his way of sitting, determined to get past the first day without insulting the noble any more than she already had.

Finally, the subject of her bitterness stopped making precise strokes with his brush, and looked up at her.

"Are you alright, Inoue-san?" Byakuya inquired with the faintest hint of amusement.

"What, if I may ask, is the purpose of doing this, Byakuya?" Orihime said, annoyed.

"I do not need to answer such an inane question. And you are to call me Kuchiki-sama or Kuchiki-sensei from now on." The captain stated coldly.

"Why?"

"Because I'm a mean, vindictive freak-"

Orihime blinked.

"-is what an individual such as yourself might expect to be the reason. However, the truth lies in the intricate nature of social conduct and traditions which date back to thousands of years." Byakuya said slowly, enunciating each word.

Orihime couldn't come up with any clever remarks at the moment, so she continued to stare incredulously at him.

"All of those, I wish to instill in your conscience by the time we're through." The Kuchiki went on, allowing a sneer to creep up to his chiseled lips, "but of course you need not worry too much about matters concerning my expectations. I am fully aware that it will take some time for your human brain to process this new learning experience."

Orihime felt her hairpins vibrate. She clenched her fists.

"Go on, finish your work so we could retire to supper." Byakuya ordered.

Orihime picked up the brush, dipped it in the inkwell, and lowered it on to the white piece of paper, her hand shaking from barely-controlled temper. The brush snapped in half, sending sprays of black ink flying in all directions. Luckily, they were in a big room, and none of the drops landed on the immaculate walls, otherwise the noble would have rabid dogs bite her head off, Orihime was sure. Not surprisingly, Byakuya remained unscathed. Orihime, on the other hand, was covered with splashes of ink. She looked down at her paper, which was marked with the same offensive liquid. A nerve-racking glance at Byakuya's own paper confirmed that his work, too, was ruined.

Orihime dashed for the door.

The garden was so close, she could feel the evening's breeze welcoming her escape-

But of course Byakuya had to shunpo and get his irritatingly beautiful face in the way. The man just appeared seemingly out of nowhere, standing between her and the doorway. She took a step back to allow herself some personal space- they were too close for her comfort.

"Is running away your only answer to all problems?" Byakuya said, an eyebrow raised.

Now Orihime really did feel stupid. She hated this guy.

"I'm taking great pain and patience in trying to educate you, the least you could do is show me the same effort to behave." He said passively, grey eyes unwavering.

"Yes." Orihime ground out.

"Follow me," Byakuya said and left the drawing room.

They took the stairs up to the second floor and arrived in another long hallway.

After some meters, the Kuchiki stopped in front of a door. He slid it open.

"This is your room." He stated simply.

Orihime walked inside. It was a standard, medium-sized room, with a single bed pushed up against a window overlooking the backyard. There was a dresser and a door which led to a bathroom.

"Clean up before dinner," was the short command. Orihime then realized that she must've still had ink all over her face and clothes.

For the umpteenth time that day, Byakuya eyed her clothing with contempt.

"Put his on," he said, presenting her with the shinigami garments.

"No thanks," Orihime declined reflexively.

Byakuya raised an eyebrow. "As your sensei, I have the right to request that you wear the proper uniform."

"Make me, Kuchiki." Orihime looked up at the man challengingly.

Without prior warning, Byakuya unsheathed his zanpakuto. Orihime instinctively took a step backward with alarm.

"What are you-"

"Scatter."

"Huh?"

Suddenly, the blade in his hands exploded into thousands of tiny petals, and before Orihime had time to put up her shield, they all swarmed around her.

However, within a second, they flew back to Byakuya and resumed the shape of a zanpakuto. Orihime stood still in shock, mentally noting that she wasn't a bloody mess by then. Curiously enough, she wasn't even hurt anywhere.

Just then, piece by piece, her clothing began to fall off. Orihime yelped in surprise.

"I spared you your undergarments. Don't make me repeat myself- put on the shihakushou." Bykuya drawled.

Orihime could only stare at him.

Kuchiki Byakuya. Noble heir to the Kuchiki family, recently dubbed sister-killer, now turned potential rapist.

"You are under my roof now, Inoue-san, it would be wise to abide by my rules."

"Fuck you."

"Rukia and I will be expecting you down for dinner in a few minutes. Get dressed."

Just like that, he turned and left.

Orihime was more than livid. Her favourite outfit! She wondered if she should try to restore the pieces by calling out Ayame and Shun'o to heal them. On the other hand, there was no point in wearing human attire while in this house, even if it was only for rebellion's sake- she had no intention of repeating that previous episode ever again.

Dazed, Orihime walked into the bathroom and proceeded to clean herself with a piece of wet towel. Cursing, she pulled on the shinigami uniform and looked at herself in the mirror. The black outfit was rather comfortable, even more so than her baggy jeans and sweater. But somehow, it made her look even more fragile and thin than she felt, with her bare arms protruding from the sleeves and the material hugging snugly around her waist. The shihakushou also accentuated her large chest, an asset she desperately tried to hide. It made her look clumsy, and she felt rather self-conscious.

Shaking her head distractedly, she finger-combed her red hair, one of the few things she liked about her appearance, and left the room.

It might've taken Orihime days to get acquainted to the mansion, but luckily there were servants to lead her to the dining room. Already seated at the long wooden table were the Kuchiki siblings. Food was arranged on the table in large sets, and Orihime felt her stomach grumble greedily. She hadn't eaten anything since this morning.

The shared meal was silent, as Orihime suspected was the custom of the nobles.

After minutes of quietly observing her attempt at mixing salmon rice balls in miso soup, however, Byakuya decided to say something.

"What are you doing?"

Rukia put her chopsticks down and glanced at Orihime, obviously nervous that she had gained her brother's disapproval.

"I'm anemic," was the curt reply.

"Oh! That would explain your strange eating habits." Rukia chuckled interestedly, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yes," Orihime nodded matter-of-factly, "I get weird food cravings."

For once, Byakuya left it at that.

The rest of the week proved uneventful, despite the inevitably awkward moments every now and again. Apart from etiquette lessons at home, Byakuya had her following him to the Sixth Division every other day ("to observe the shinigami's unwavering commitments to duty"). So whenever Orihime had some free time to herself, she would slink off to the Eleventh Division and hang out with the guys, whom she had become good friends with. They seemed to hold her in high regard after the courtroom incident. Apparently the men of the Eleventh had decided that they and Orihime were kindred spirits. But, as she was coming to learn, nothing good could ever last. Eventually Byakuya found out where she's been sneaking off too, and took his reputation as a control freak to a whole new level.

"I am forbidding your visits to the Eleventh Division in any future circumstances," the noble informed her.

"Why?" She nearly whined. Nearly.

"Because," Byakuya paused, in search for a suitable reason. Orihime began to think he would leave his answer there, which would undoubtedly grant her a newfound respect for this man. But then, of course, he had to continue, "it is most unladylike to associate oneself with such a herd of rowdy men."

"Oh."

So she ceased going to the Eleventh, just so she could avoid Byakuya's rants as much as possible. But it wouldn't end there. One night, while drifting off to sleep, she heard some noises outside her window. Slowly getting up, Orihime peered down to see a group of drunken Eleventh Division's members, led by Ikkaku, making their way across the yard. How they managed to get past the guards and climbed the wall was beyond her.

"Psst," Ikkaku, now standing under her bedroom window, attempted to whisper. The sound was only loud enough to wake the whole neighborhood. Orihime took a sharp breath, but no one came rushing at the intruders.

"What are you doing here?" She whispered back, leaning from the windowsill.

"Well, we figured the Kuchiki probably forbid you to come see us, so instead we're bringing the party to you!" Ikkaku half-shouted back, clearly inebriated.

Orihime squeezed her eyes shut, quelling the strong urge to bang her head against the wall. She leaned back from the window.

"Will you please be quiet?" She pleaded. "People will hear you."

"OK!" Ikkaku grinned. Beside him, Yumichika stumbled to stand next to his friend, followed by three more guys she recognized from the Eleventh.

"Can we come up?" He asked, already putting his hands together to give his friend's right foot a lift.

Apparently there was no way out of it. She could see Byakuya's disapproval now. So many men in her room at night, drunk. How unheard of, how unladylike. Such abhorrence-

There was a thud as Ikkaku fell over the windowsill, giggling madly. Sounds of shushing were heard from his friends, climbing through the same window, as Ikkaku fought to stifle his laugh.

_Yup. This will be worth it._

***

A/N: Yes, I have decided that Orihime's anemic (if you're anemic, you might get weird food cravings as one of the symptoms *actually looked it up* lol) and will be pursuing this idea in later chapters. I will try to make an update every week, most likely in the weekend, though I'm not sure when the next one will be, because unlike some lucky people, it takes me a lot of time to write, and I'm taking the SAT next Saturday. (eek!)  
Reviews are more than appreciated, they're worshipped and cherished. I'll be looking forward to hearing from you guys! ^ ^


	5. Social Conducts

A/N: Ok, so I failed to update last week (went to an anime con ^ ^), but here's the next chapter. Kinda long… please read and leave feedback? You know how much I love hearing from you guys XD

***

Chapter 5: Social conducts

Last night was a blast. Orihime had enjoyed the rowdy company, even though she was half-asleep while the guys made a circle on the floor and talked to each other drunkenly, laughing at everything anyone said. It was late, so she drifted off to sleep with her friends' voices as a lullaby.

In the morning, Orihime was glad to find no one dozing off on the floor. They knew enough to leave before anyone discovered them in her room, at least, though Orihime had a vague memory of herself waking up at dawn and dropping her friends' sleeping forms, one by one, out the window. She hoped that was just a dream. But to make sure, she looked out the window. Nope, no dead shinigami lying outside. A definitely good sign.

Having washed her face and brushed her teeth, Orihime changed into a fresh yakuta. Glancing at the clock, she noted that it was now 11am. Strange. Byakuya usually had the maids come and wake her up early to start the day. She shrugged it off, and descended the stairs down to the dining room, where the head of the house was having a late breakfast. He was just finishing his meal when Orihime came in. The Kuchiki glanced up at her, his expression formidable. What caught her attention, however, was the group of her friends sitting in one corner of the room, bound together by a kidou spell.

She must've been dreaming to even believe that the guys weren't loud enough to at least wake someone in the house. They were unconscious, but still breathing, so Orihime wasn't too worried.

"The guards found them asleep just outside your window early this morning," Byakuya stated. "Furthermore, I received word from the maids that you've been engaging in some unholy activities last night, judging by the sounds they heard."

Involuntarily, Orihime cracked up at his choice of words. She was too amused to verbally defend herself. Byakuya's gaze, however, was icy enough to chill the Sun's core. Almost immediately, Orihime stopped laughing.

She suddenly didn't feel like telling the dark-haired man that what the maids heard was probably the intoxicated Ikkaku dry humping Yumichika, who was trying to claw his way out of the other man's grasp, screaming for his life.

"I suppose my telling you to stop engaging yourself with these men went unnoticed." Byakuya said. She could tell that he was more than a little angry.

"It was my idea," a voice boomed out of nowhere. Surprised, Orihime turned to see Kenpachi entering the room and coming to stand beside her.

"Zaraki-taichou," Byakuya said curtly. If he was surprised at the man's sudden appearance, it didn't show.

"Heh, nice place you've got here, hime." Kenpachi looked around the room, taking a breadstick from the table and biting off a chunk.

Byakuya rose from his chair, and Orihime's eyes darted around the room in panic, searching for the best place to take cover.

"What are you doing here?" Byakuya said as calmly as he could manage, while eyeing the larger man who was still eating his food.

"Came ta give ya a piece of my mind," Kenpachi said, pointing the half-bitten breadstick at the noble, sending crumbs flying in all directions.

_This doesn't look good._

"Oh?" The noble arched one perfect eyebrow.

"How DARE you forbid someone to go to the Eleventh, MY DIVISION!" The wild man exclaimed.

Byakuya, to his credit, totally ignored the question.

"I suppose you then took it upon yourself to advice your officers to break into my house in the middle of the night?" He gestured to the group of said shinigami in the corner.

Kenpachi gave his subordinates a quick glance, cursing. "Those fools. I figured they got caught since they didn't return to the division this morning." He gave Byakuya his scariest glare, "they're coming back with me, release them at once."

"Zaraki-taichou," Byakuya closed his eyes briefly. "Trespassing is a criminal offense, especially in a noble's home."

"So?" Kenpachi asked challengingly.

"So, if you are confirming your participation in this-"

"Yeah. What about it?"

"- I will have to report your misconduct to the Soutaichou."

"Does it hurt?" Kenpachi asked suddenly.

"I don't quite follow," Byakuya looked at the man coldly.

"Does it hurt?" Kenpachi repeated, "to have that stick up your ass all the time, I mean."

Despite herself, Orihime snorted, then quickly turned it into a cough.

Byakuya turned to her sharply. "Cover your mouth with your hand."

"Why do you do that?" Kenpachi said, irritated. "She could sneeze with her mouth open for all I care. It's healthy!"

"I don't expect someone of your caliber to understand," was Byakuya's cool reply.

"You're always judging me!" Kenpachi exploded.

"It's very hard not to."

"That's it! Let's go, flower boy!" The taller man howled, hand on the hilt of his zanpakuto. Orihime had a strong suspicion that he actually came here to fight, if nothing else.

"I'm afraid I must decline," the noble said impassively. "As you can see, I have duty to attend to." He gestured in her direction.

"Tell me, why mustn't she come to my division? What's wrong with it?" the Eleventh captain persisted, clearly offended.

"I am trying to teach her manners, and mixing herself with such people at your division proves to be undoing the effects of my lessons." Byakuya said impatiently.

"You're the one who's ruining her. The kid's got spirit!" Kenpachi retaliated, unnecessarily raising his voice.

"I don't have time for your imbecility," the noble finally snapped, though it was a subtle change. "You may take your officers and leave. Inoue-san and I have a class scheduled this morning, so do make yourselves scare."

"You know what, I'll take you on right now, and then YOU can be scarce." Kenpachi countered, stalking menacingly towards the noble. Upon deciding to add it for good measure, he unnecessarily explained "cuz then you'd be dead."

The Kuchiki dismissed the other man's remark with a wave of his hand.

"If you'll excuse me," Byakuya said. He grabbed Orihime's arm, none too gently, and shunpo'd out the room, dragging her with him.

She still hadn't eaten any breakfast yet. _Great. Just great._

***

They arrived in Byakuya's study, a place frequented for their "lessons". This was where Byakuya's been _attempting_ to teach her manners and all things soul society-related for the past seven days. Things ranging from how to address different people according to their social status, the right ways to bow (of course Byakuya made one of the servants come in to demonstrate- God forbid he showed her himself), history of the shinigami and how they came to be, and other pointless subjects. To her relief, they hadn't done anything as lame as manners at the dining table, (though they've come quite close). The calligraphy incident was never mentioned again. Rather, Byakuya's idea of teaching disciplines was to get her to follow him around like some lapdog. Everywhere he went, she had to go, be it during his work hours in the division (where she was made to run errands like some friggin' personal assistant- she was sure that was what Renji was for) or when he had important meetings with the higher- ups (where she had been forced to "address them properly"). Orihime suspected that Byakuya had only wanted to set people straight and let everyone know not to mess with him, rather than teach her any real lessons. It must've been more than humiliating for the man to have the whole Seireitei know that some human girl could easily offend him so. By letting his acquaintances see her being subdued around him, he managed to regain their respect somewhat.

But why exactly was she being subdued? Let's just say that after one week with the noble, Orihime did in fact learn an important lesson: the man was crazy. And secretly so. He had an unhealthy knack for thinking that everyone somehow had to obey his orders, which were apparently equivalent to THE law_. _Disobedience meant punishment. Now, Orihime was certainly not one to be scared of punishments. She had a pretty good idea that he wasn't exactly allowed to physically harm her. Well, she hoped not anyway. No, this was the worst kind of punishment yet: the no-food policy. She didn't know where he got the idea from, but whenever she did something wrong, she would be sent to her room and have dinner denied from her. Pains and injuries she could cope with, but this was outright obnoxious. Orihime LIVED for food. So as a result, she had no other choice but to do as she was told, if she wanted to be fed. However, it didn't always go as smoothly as that. Orihime was the type that tried hard to behave appropriately in most situations, but constantly failing due to her unfortunate lack of patience. One moment she'd be keeping her cool, then the next snapping violently.

Orihime wrenched her arm from his grasp, feeling slightly nauseated from the shunpoing.

Despite that, she said, "You ran away." A hint of a smirk played on her tone.

"No. I merely avoided conflict with another Division's Captain," Byakuya denied impassively.

"Whatever." She looked around the airy space, slightly annoyed now that hunger was starting to kick in- Orihime got cranky easily if she didn't get anything to eat. "So what's your plan for today?"

Byakuya looked at her, cold as usual. "I wanted to inform you that there will be a formal party among nobles this evening. Captains and Vice-captains of the Gotei 13 will be obliged to attend. It is a social event, and an excellent opportunity for you to put the lessons you've learned so far to use. Thus, I request your presence there as my apprentice."

Orihime had already tuned him out. Her mind was still stuck on the first sentence. _Formal party?_ Somehow that just sounded like an oxymoron. She thought parties were supposed to be where people go WOOHOO-

"Inuoe-san?"

"Huh? Er..yeah." She answered, not in the least bit enlightened as to what was asked.

***

In the evening, Orihime came to regret not having paid attention. She shouldn't have said yes. As it turned out, Byakuya had asked if she understood what her obligations as his apprentice were. She should've objected then. No one, absolutely no one in all of the three worlds, should be obliged to wear something as embarrassing as the kimono she was donning now. It was flowery…and pink. She had gotten unnecessary help in dressing from the maids, who assured her that this was what most noble women wore, right before Orihime tried to bite their hands fidgeting around her body off.

The "party" was held in the First Division building, in a large hall where long tables with all kinds of food were set on two sides of the room. There were no chairs, so Orihime deduced that it was a sort of a cocktail party. People who were already there mingled and talked to each other politely, all wearing formal kimonos, except for the captains and vice captains who wore their usual uniforms. Orihime spotted a few familiar faces, and extracted herself as quickly as possible from Byakuya, who was occupied with a rich-looking man that came to greet him.

The blonde fukutaicho, Kira, was putting on his solemn face and stood with two other vice captains near a table.

"Yo!" Orihime greeted, breaking into their circle with practiced ease.

"Shh!" Renji looked around in alarm, as if to see if anyone's heard her loud call.

"It's a _formal_ evening, you idiot. What are you doing here anyway?" The redhead reprimanded her, sounding very much like Byakuya.

"Your captain dragged me along," was a short explanation. They nodded in understanding.

"Well, long time no see, Orihime," Shuuhei said, smiling. If she thought he was being sincere, she was sorely mistaken. "What's with the kimono?" Tattoo face sniggered.

She grimaced in response. "I thought we had a deal that you'd leave me alone…"

"You're the one who came looking for me," the dark haired man said cockily. _He hasn't changed one bit._

Before Orihime could retort, there was a loud thump and everyone's attention turned to the low stage standing on one end of the room, which was previously vacant.

"Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen." Yamamoto's voice boomed across the hall, amplified by a kidou spell. "It is now time to officially start our traditional celebration of appreciating the long-standing alliance between the Four Noble Houses and the Thirteen Guard Squads. Every year, we gather here to review Soul Society's progress in achieving peace through assignments of Captains and Vice Captains who carry out laws and orders in Seireitei. Let us enjoy this evening together and use it as a chance to socialize with each Division and Noble House and ask questions." There was another loud thump of the wooden staff. "Let the party now commence."

Beside Orihime, Kira heaved a soft sigh. Shuuhei and Renji both looked equally bored. Orihime, on the other hand, was positively confused.

"So…what are we celebrating, again?" She whispered to the redhead, who was trying his best to remain interested in the event.

"Huh? You don't know?" He guffawed, but recovered quickly, remembering where he was.

"Why else would I ask," Orihime said, irritated. Her hand picked up a chicken wing off a plate on the table, and started to bite viciously into it.

The others' expression could only be identified as horror-struck.

"What?"

Shuuhei shook his head, "You're not supposed to eat in the party."

"Muh?" Orihime asked, still chewing the chicken. "Then why the fuck did they put food here?"

"Moron," Renji scolded, "what if one of the nobles comes over and starts talking to you but you can't reply cuz you've got food in your mouth?"

"Then you swallow…?" Orihime said, looking at the redhead like HE was the moron here.

Kira followed his friends in shaking his head. "It's just not done, Inuoe-san."

Orihime looked around the so-called "party" and sure enough, no one seemed to be touching the delicious food on the tables. All of them were engaged in a conversation with someone, or a group of people. Some had a drink in hand, but that was it. In one corner of the room, however, Yachiru was stuffing her face with sweets provided on one end of a table. The pink-haired girl was accompanied by Kenpachi, who was eating a piece of meat in such a feral way that people steered clear from him.

"Well, except for Vice captain Kusajishi and Zaraki-taichou, that is." Kira shrugged.

Orihime quickly finished her chicken wing and wiped her hand on the priceless kimono.

The group was shortly interrupted by the arrival of two captains: Shunsui in his usual pink overcoat and Ukitake-taicho. Orihime wasn't exactly familiar with the straw hat guy, but she liked Rukia's kind captain.

"How are we doing, gentlemen?" Jyuushiro greeted them, smiling that smile of his. Upon seeing Orihime, he quickly added, "and lady".

"Captain Ukitake, Captain Kyoraku, good evening." Shuuhei said, and he, Kira, and Renji bowed.

"There's no need for such formalities, Hisagi." Shunsui waved him off.

"But sir, this is a formal event." Kira pointed out.

Shunsui's eyes landed on Orihime. "My my, that's a fascinating pattern of kimono you've got there."

Orihime gritted her teeth. "Yes, it's got flowers." It wasn't exactly like he's one to talk.

Giving his friend a reproachful look, Ukitake changed the topic of conversation. "So, how are you all enjoying the party?"

"Poorly." Orihime smiled.

Ukitake chuckled. "Yes, poorly indeed. Shunsui and I just came to talk to you to avoid being questioned by those people from the noble houses." He gave them a friendly grin.

"What exactly do they ask you about?" Orihime said, curiosity spiked.

Shunsui poked his face in to answer. "Well you see, Orihime-chan, this annual gathering is just a desperate attempt to please the noble people from the four houses that support the Gotei 13 and the shinigami academy. They're curious as to what we do..." He looked around the group, as if to gain their approval. Shuuhei and Kira seemed uncomfortable at the bluntness of the explanation, while Renji nodded his head in agreement. Ukitake just looked…resigned. Shunsui gave them all a winning smile, and continued. "Thing is, the guard squads operate carefully and quietly. Almost every plan we make is confidential. So, no outsiders are to gain access of our information, not even the nobles. Now the problem is, the Four Noble Houses held most of the power in Seireitei before Yama-jii founded the Gotei 13. So now that we share their power, they've been rather nervous, you see. They want to know what it is we're up to and such. This is the only time in the year that they're permitted to poke their noses into our business and ask their burning questions. It's been a sort of a long-standing compromise."

Orihime nodded in interest. She was about to ask something else when she felt a dark presence looming over them. Turning her head in trepidation, the source of her discomfort was confirmed. Byakuya Kuchiki was standing directly behind her, his expression unreadable.

"C-Captain! Good evening," Renji said, rubbing the back of his head nervously. The others seemed to sense the invisible hostility radiating off the newcomer as well.

Byakuya promptly ignored his vice captain.

"Inoue-san, I've been looking all over for you." He said smoothly, and Orihime instinctively recoiled a little. "There were people I wanted you to meet. Did you not realize that your role as my apprentice was to stay by my side throughout the entire party?"

"Now now, Byakuya-kun," Shunsui chuckled in an attempt to lighten up the mood, " I'm afraid we don't appreciate you hogging this lovely lady all to yourself-" He faltered at the other man's death glare. The noble was not amused.

It was Ukitake's turn to remedy the situation. "Byakuya!" The white-haired man exclaimed light-heartedly. "Why, you look stunning tonight!" He gestured at the noble's plain shihakushou.

There was a brief pause, in which Orihime and her friends tried desperately to erase the image of their superior hitting on the other- unintentionally or not.

"This is what I wear everyday," came the sour reply. "If you'll excuse us, gentlemen," and with that, Byakuya steered Orihime away from the group. Any protests would prove futile, so she kept quiet.

It was not long before they came across a plump man in a midnight blue kimono, who Orhime knew at first glance was of a high status. The man's round face brightened up considerably upon seeing them.

"Byakuya!" He exclaimed in childish glee, swaying slightly. It would seem that he'd had drunken a considerable amount of sake.

To Orihime's surprise, Byakuya's face softened. "Oji-san," he greeted in turn.

"Eh?" The other man's friendly gaze came to rest upon Orihime. "And this must be the lady I've been hearing so much about. They said you've taken in an apprentice. You never told me she was this pretty!" He slurred.

Byakuya ignored the last comment. "Inoue-san, this is my uncle. Uncle, this is Inoue-san."

"A pleasure to meet you," Orihime recited like a parrot, somewhat on purpose. It never failed to annoy Byakuya. Her sensei was less than pleased. He gave her one of his famous glares, and she quickly put in a stiff bow, adding, "Kuchiki-san."

"The pleasure's mine, dear." Byakuya's uncle smiled, though his eyes didn't seem to be on her. He was looking at Byakuya. "What do you know, I think Inoue-san might be my daughter's age. I should introduce them…" Stumbling a little, he looked around the room.

"Rina-chaaan!" He called out in a randome direction, and even Orihime was taken aback by the rich man's carefree attitude. To her surprise, a pretty girl with dark hair appeared beside him.

"Inoue-san, this is my daughter, Rina-chan. I think you two should be friends!" Kuchiki-san said dreamily, already dragging Byakuya away towards another direction.

"Waah?" Dazed, Orihime looked up at Byakuya for further instructions. Sensei seemed to be confused himself.

"Oji-san, what're you-"

But the two of them were already some distance away. Orihime managed to hear Byakuya's uncle chirping "Come, my favourite nephew. We hardly ever talk anymore!"

Then they were gone.

Turning back to look at the girl, Orihime blinked. Was she supposed to strike up a conversation? The dark haired girl's expression changed once her father was out of sight. She shifted her weight and crossed her arms.

"So, you must be Byakuya-sama's so-called apprentice." The girl said bitchily. Orihime raised her eyebrows at the tone of her voice. She noticed that even though the daughter indeed seemed to be her age, she was considerably shorter than Orihime.

"Um..yeah."

The girl scoffed, giving her a once-over. "Sheesh, you must feel pretty good to think that someone of your status can climb up so easily to be by Byakuya-sama's side."

Orihime was more confused than offended at the girl's remark. "Well, not really. To tell you the truth, I'm kinda dragged along by Byakuya involuntarily."

The brunette took in a sharp breath, appalled. "How dare you address him without the proper honorific?! Just as I thought, you're some human low-life not even worth picking up to be a servant in the Kuchiki house." She sneered. "I'll let you in on a little tip, don't get cocky, bitch."

Orihime blinked.

"Who are you again?"

"I'm Rina Kuchiki, Byakuya-sama's third cousin." The girl said haughtily, straightening herself.

"So…in other words, you're familiar with the concept of incest, yes?"

"Pardon?"

Their little scene had already gathered some attention from those around them.

"Look, I don't know what your problem is, but don't take it out on me." Orihime sighed.

"Why you…" Rina walked towards her, closing the distance between them. "Didn't I just tell you not to get cocky? Byakuya-sama's kind enough to take you in rather than let you rot in jail for that hideous crime and you're taking advantage of that kindness." She spat. "I don't know what he sees in you. You're no better than the rest of the ryoka. That giant scum, the four-eyed freak, and especially that orange-haired idiot. All human garbage-"

She was cut off by Orihime's punch from under her chin.

It was one thing to insult her, but to pull all her friends into this pointless tirade, something in Orihime just snapped. She looked at Rina, who stumbled back, and said articulately,

"Get lost, you horny slut."

A crowd was now forming around them. In a burst of shunpo, Byakuya was beside her.

"What's going on?" He asked, as alarmed as his lack of emotions would allow him to be.

"Byakuya-sama!" Rina sobbed, now dramatically spread on the floor. "That little brute PUNCHED me!"

There was a short, cold silence.

"Is this true?" Byakuya turned to ask Orihime, his tone neutral.

"Yeah."

"Then Inoue-san, please apologize to Rina-san." He said.

"Hell no." Orihime was still furious at what she said.

"In that case," Byakuya looked at Rina, not bothering to help her up. "Rina-san, I offer you my apologies. I'll see to it that Inoue-san gets suitably punished." He turned to Orihime. "Let's go. We're retiring early from the party."

They exited the scene.

Behind her, Orihime heard Rina wail, "What? That's it?!"

They got back to the manor, and were now once again standing in Byakuya's office.

"Now, do explain yourself." Byakuya crossed his arms.

"She insulted my friends!" Orihime fumed.

"I understand that my cousin can be a little…too much to bear, but that is no reason for you to physically attack her."

"No, you don't understand." Orihime shook her head vehemently. "That wasn't all. She was saying all this crap about me being taken into your care. Personally I think she's jealous. She seems to like you a lot."

Byakuya sighed. "Inoue-san, let's not change the subject. The point is that you embarrassed me in front of my relatives, colleagues, and many other associates."

"But I'm telling you, she's got the hots for you!"

"Do refrain from being so obscene-"

"You're the obscene one here." The words tumbled out of her mouth as if on autopilot.

Byakuya glared at her.

"Um… sir," she quickly added.

"I'm subjecting you to confinement in your room without supper tonight." He finally declared.

"What? But that's not fair!" Orihime screamed. A part of her knew that she should really calm down, but she was in the heat of the moment and everything seemed a hot, white blur.

"Go to your room." Byakuya ordered. His tone told her that the decision was final.

Torn between obeying the order and punching her teacher's lights out, Orihime barely realized that she had released Tsubaki from one of her hairpins.

Storming off to her room as she was told, Tsubaki followed, ripping the paper walls of the house to shreds in their wake.

***

A/N: ooh… 0.0 what will Byakuya do? The next chapter will be somewhat different from the previous ones. I hope it'll be up next week. Comments? Suggestions? Review? *puppy eyes*


	6. Sentiments of an Anemic

A/N: I should put a warning here, parts of this chapter might stray into some dark territories as it deals with Orihime's feeling of inadequacy (as portrayed in the anime).

Without further ado, enjoy!

***

Chapter 6: Sentiments of an Anemic 

The next morning Orihime woke up to the feeling of utter starvation. Her stomach made several protesting growls as she took a shower and dressed herself, all in a less than good mood. She walked to the small bedside table, finger-combing her damp hair, and reached for her hairpins. Her hand stopped in mid-air: where the fuck were her hairpins? Orihime distinctively remembered putting them right on the table before she had gone to bed, as she had done on previous nights. Getting on all fours, she peeked under the table. _Nope, not there either._ Looking around the room, she felt panic starting to creep into her conscience.

Orihime descended the stairs to the ground floor in a rush, cursing loudly all the way. She burst into the dining room in the state of near hyperventilation.

"Byakuya!" Orihime shouted, not caring to add the honorific. "They're gone!"

Kuchiki-taichou looked up from his breakfast casually. "Who?"

"My fairies!"

Upon receiving the blank stare from her sensei, Orhime shook her head. "I mean my hairpins! I think I lost them."

Byakuya dabbed a white napkin slowly on his porcelain chin. Orihime waited.

"Ah…_those _fairies," the noble finally said, and she could've sworn there was a tinge of amusement on his usually stoic face.

"Yes, I remember now," he went on. "It would seem that I have had a servant confiscate them."

There was silence, which didn't last very long.

"Say WHAT?!"

"Inoue-san, might I remind you that you've sufficiently wrecked my establishment yesterday night?" Byakuya said coldly, raising a subtle eyebrow. Orihime looked around for any evidence of said ruins, and found none.

"Of course, quite a few people had to work through the night to get the walls fixed. I view your violent tendencies as a threat, and have come to a conclusion that it would be best for everyone if you were unarmed for the time being." Byakuya explained. "Although your attack is only in one of the hairpins, there was no knowing which one it was, so I had the servant take both of them while you were sleeping."

Orihime truly didn't know what to say. It was one of those moments when all emotions were bottled up inside her. She was angry at the injustice of it all, and at the same time felt like crying. But more than anything, she was very stressed out.

Seeing no violent reactions from her, Byakuya seemed to think it was a good time to change the topic.

"Have a seat," he said, gesturing to the chair perpendicular to his. "I do believe you must be famished."

Orihime remained standing. All of a sudden she didn't feel like eating. Her mind was clouded, and she was having a hard time maintaining a clear vision. This was the first day since her brother's passed away that she was not wearing her special hairpins. Had Byakuya not realized that they were as important to her as a zanpakuto is to a shinigami? Without them, she almost felt as though a limb was missing.

Byakuya frowned slightly. "I think I told you to sit down."

Orihime thought her brain had stopped functioning altogether. She was seized with panic, fury, and a headache which was starting to take residence. Overwhelmed, she experienced a sensation akin to a brain freeze. Suddenly, a warm liquid splattered on to her upper lip. The metallic smell hit her nostrils and Orihime finally snapped out of her little stupor. She rushed to snatch a handful of tissues from the dining table and pressed it to her nose.

Byakuya looked at her, surprised. "What's going on?"

Orihime found her voice and replied, irritated. "Well, genius, it would seem that I burst a vein and am now having a fucking nosebleed." She failed to notice the bewilderment in the Kuchiki's expressive eyes, be it from the vulgar language or the fact that she was bleeding.

"I'll be in my room, then," Orihime informed, turning to leave. "I can't eat now anyway."

Byakuya made no move to protest, seemingly had nothing better to offer.

***

Once back in the confines of her room, Orihime went to clean herself at the sink. The blood was still flowing, and didn't look like it was going to stop any time soon. Carefully, with a damp paper towel, she wiped away the blood stains on her lips and chin, which had gotten quite messy, and changed for a dry tissue by rolling it up and sticking it in one of her nostrils.

This simply sucked. Why did it have to happen now? Orihime knew that for as long as she could remember, she used to have nosebleeds on a frequent basis. Be it from the cold weather, or whenever she got sick, the doctor used to say that the walls of her blood veins were thin and very prone to bursting. With the constant blood losses, it was unavoidable that she became anemic. It was a large annoyance to herself and her family. Recently, with its long absence, Orihime thought that she had grown out of it.

Coming out of the bathroom, Orihime sat herself in front of her dresser for lack of anything better to do in this state. The reflection in the mirror glared back at her, with a cone of tissue sticking out of its nose. It looked rather ridiculous.

An undeterminable amount of time passed. The blood flow was still continuous. Orihime had had to change the tissue again and again, the red against white contents of the waste bin already spilling out on the wooden floor. If this kept up, she knew that she would feel even weaker than she already did.

The sky outside her window was light, indicating a bright afternoon. It must've been an hour, or two, since she left the dining room. No one seemed to be looking for her, and that was a little less than encouraging. The hunger from the missed breakfast, not to mention the lack of dinner from the night before, was already starting to kick in once again, making her body feel pathetically exhausted. But the popped vein somewhere in her head was still leaking out the cursed liquid and she had rather stayed in her room than go out in search of food. The taste of iron in the back of her throat would've made eating a less than pleasing experience, anyway.

Orihime sighed. This was fucking inconvenient. Surely, she was stronger than this? Stronger than to be deterred by some bodily functions? If she had had Ayame and Shunō with her, this problem would've been fixed within seconds. However, without her hairpins, her shield as well as her weapon, Orihime felt helpless. She didn't want to be going down this path of thinking, as it only took her down south, but all of a sudden she was painfully reminded of how much stronger her friends had gotten. She was happy for them, of course. Ichigo, Chad, and Uryu. They had all gotten stronger since arriving in Soul Soiciety. While this was a wonderful progress, Orihime couldn't help but feel left behind. It mattered very little that she was now able to call out her fairies without saying anything, because her attacks hadn't improved at all. She was more than willing to fight, but there seemed to always be something holding her back. Orihime didn't dare to identify it as fear, or hesitation. Either was unacceptable.

In a swirl of thoughts that seemed to be all spiraling downwards, Orihime became aware of her situation, of where she was, and most importantly, of the fact that she didn't belong there. What was she doing at this posh place? The Kuchiki's attempts at reforming her had been a waste. Everything was all a waste of time. "Is running away your only answer to all problems?" Byakuya had asked her on her first day here. Orihime felt the tears she was unable to stop roll down her face. If only he knew… If only anyone at all knew, why she was this way. Ironically enough, as much as she tried to deny it, everything Byakuya said about her was true. Yes, she always ran away from difficult situations. Yes, she was rude and severely lacking in manners. Orihime wasn't one to blame others for her wrongdoings. That would be cowardly, and self-pity was never acceptable, to say the least. However, she found herself remembering a past event. One she thought was long forgotten.

Orihime was three years old when her brother took her and ran away from home. Most people wouldn't have memories of when they were at such a young age. But everyone at least had a fraction of it left somewhere, a childhood memory. If it was thoroughly impressionable, you just might remember it long enough, be it either a precious memory, or a terrifying one. Orihime's was the latter.

She knew that her parents had always fought. They were poor, and in need of money. It didn't help that they thought the best way to solve this was by drinking their sorrows away. They weren't a happy family. In fact, Orihime would say they were quite fucked up. Her brother had always tried to get her away from them in the evenings, when they were more often than not drunk- violent. However, being away from her parents proved hard on the little girl. She had to be alone at home most of the time, when her brother was at school and her parents were no where to be found. She grew up having no one to talk to, no one to play with, but herself. So, on one of the rare afternoons that her mother was home, Orihime approached her. Her mother was sitting at a dresser, combing her long red hair. The shade of her hair was the same as Orihime's, and so were her pretty, grey eyes.

"Mommy?" Young Orihime tugged at her mother's long sleeve.

"What is it now?" Her mum said, voice strained with irritation.

Orihime gulped. Her mother hadn't been drinking, but she was still scary. Nonetheless, Orhime felt that she had to let her know this, that perhaps it would help ease the pain.

"I'm lonely."

There was a brief pause, and, unexpectedly, her mother snorted.

"Don't go saying shit like that, it's fucking awkward."

Orihime flinched at the words.

It was then that the thunderous crash reached their ears. Her brother had come back home, and, it would seem, met her father at the front door. The two of them were fighting, their words loud but faded out in her memory. Sora had stormed into their shared bedroom, hurriedly emptying his backpack of its school contents and stuffing clothes from the closet in their place.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Her mother turned around from looking in the mirror, a frown on her gorgeous face.

"I'm taking Orihime and we're leaving." Sora replied heatedly. It was then that her father's large figure filled the doorway. There was a violent string of cursing- he had obviously been drinking- before he lunged at his son. Sora dodged, clutching the backpack firmly in his right hand, and grabbed Orihime's wrist with the other.

"Run, Orihime!"

But even when they made it out of there and lived by themselves, her brother eventually left her. They all did. His promises were a lie, promises that she didn't have to be alone anymore. Because in the end, she found herself living alone- utterly alone.

It wasn't very different now, Orihime thought as she sat in the empty room. The absence of someone else with her was familiar, so she didn't mind it too much. Maybe it was for this reason that Orihime didn't care for close contact with another human being. But then again, why was she crying?

The door to her room opened, and Orihime jumped with a start. Standing in the doorway was Byakuya, all in his imposing glory. Orihime wiped her eyes, she couldn't believe that she let herself be caught off guard like this.

Byakuya was silent for a moment, observing her tear-stained cheeks and the tissue in her hand pressed up to the lower half of her face.

"You still haven't stopped bleeding." He stated matter-of-factly. If he was uncomfortable at the fact that she had been crying, it didn't show.

Orihime nodded curtly. She didn't trust herself to speak at the moment.

"Should I send for someone from the Fourth division?"

"No!" Orihime abruptly stood up from her seat. She really couldn't afford having anyone else find out about this. If word got out to her friends, if they knew how pathetic, how ridiculous she really was…

Her legs were shaky from the lack of energy, and it came as no surprise to even herself when they gave way beneath her.

Byakuya was beside her within a flash, catching her body in his arms before it hit the floor.

Tilting his chin down and observing her face with a hard stare, he finally said, "you don't look like you're feeling well."

Orihime didn't say anything.

A soft sigh escaped his lips, and his eyes were shadowed as he looked down. "I'm sorry, Inoue-san. It did not occur to me that those hairpins were this important to you. I will see to it that they get returned as soon as possible."

Orihime nodded. She still didn't say anything.

Slowly, and very gently, she felt herself being laid down on something solid, but soft at the same time. Her eyes widened as she realized that Byakuya had lowered himself onto the wooden floor, and laid her down on his lap. Both of them were quiet for some time.

Orihime didn't know how to register this change of attitude. Was Byakuya feeling sorry for her? But did he really have to go this far to try and give her comfort? It didn't matter either way, Orihime realized. He'd get tired of her soon enough- even her parents did.

A long moment passed, perhaps an eternity, even.

He still didn't let go.

Up close, Orihime noticed, his eyes were the same shade as hers: stormy grey. Like her mother's.

"Byakuya?"

For once, the noble didn't mind her informal address.

"What is it?" His tone was neutral, neither soft nor harsh. At least he didn't seem to be annoyed.

Orihime didn't know why, but she felt a strong need to say it, to see his reaction.

"I'm lonely." The words slipped out like water, as clear and bare naked as she felt. This was the second time in her life she would ever admit such a feeling. She just had to know what someone else's response to the confession could be, apart from her mother's insensitive one.

There was silence. Orihime closed her eyes and cursed herself for being so naïve. Then, slowly, the arms around her tightened. She looked up to see his gaze not on her, but somewhere far away, looking at the clear sky outside her window. His voice sounded strange to her ears, without its usual mask of coldness.

"Me too."

***

A/N: Gaaah! Byakuya finally showed his humanity. Though this is only a one time thing, I'm sorry to say. This story is definitely not an Orihime x Byakuya fanfic. I can never bring myself to write such things - -" (Though it could still turn out one-sided, for entertaining purposes *wink*)  
Oh, and by the way, I just felt that there should be more to Orihime's background story. I mean, sure she grew up with her brother and he died, and her parents were drunkards, but no one ever really thought about how she dealt with those things. How is it that her character turned out all cheery and happy-go-lucky? So I thought that sometimes, just sometimes, someone as happy as Orihime could break down and cry like everyone else, too. What do you think?


	7. Educating Hime

A/N: Hello. Um..you're probably wondering why I didn't update last week (or you could care less) so here's my excuse: I was whisked away on a friggin' survival camp of a life time *dramatic music plays* Whisked away, as in, made to bike 120km. Yes, and the sad part is, this is all true. Well, the good thing that came out of this is that I got to prove my physical strength. I mean, c'mon, who would've thought that a bookworm like me…OK, fine! So I actually imagined myself as a Captain leading my division on a morning drill all the way across the country. Hey, it helped me keep going, and I wouldn't put it past the shinigami to bike a long distance as a morning exercise. Sorry, I've been rambling. On with the story!

***

Chapter 7: Educating Hime

"Hey, um…Byakuya?"

The noble's death glare succeeded in reminding her that, once again, she'd forgotten the suffix.

"-san. I've been meaning to ask, why do you have a picture of Rukia in your study?"

There was a short silence, before her teacher replied.

"That's not Rukia," he said.

It took a while for Orihime to figure it out.

"O-oh." She stammered, having realized that she might've brought up a very awkward topic indeed. Rumours had it that Rukia's deceased sister looked a lot like her, Orihime just didn't expect the two of them to completely resemble each other.

They were sitting in Byakuya's study room. He was doing some paperwork that he brought home (not an unusual occurrence) while Orihime was trying to finish reading up on the history of seireitei from old scrolls which sensei had assigned to her.

Things were back to normal now after the dramatic episode she had of a nervous breakdown, not to mention the embarrassing hemorrhage. It was a silent agreement that what happened, or what was said, in the room stayed in the room. The noble was currently acting as though nothing particularly interesting had occurred, and Orihime was more than relieved for that. She could never live it down if it had been Ichigo, Renji, or any of her other loud-mouthed friends.

The door slid open, and a servant scurried in.

"Kuchiki-sama!" He said hurriedly, and, Orihime noticed, apologetically. Behind him, there were noises from the other servants outside.

"Sir! You can't go in there!"

"Shut up. I need to see him, this is an emergency!"

"But, we must insist-"

The cause of all the commotion came into full view at the doorway, panting slightly.

Byakuya put his brush down.

"Renji." He simply stated, as if it wasn't at all beyond the redhead to break into the captain's establishment.

"Taichou!"

"What is it?"

"I'm sorry to disturb you on your day off- Hey, is that paperwork?" Renji peered accusingly at Byakuya's desk.

"What's the emergency?" The captain repeated patiently.

Renji looked grim. "Our division's been called to clean up after the Twelfth. Some hollows set loose from another wacky experiment."

"I see. Where?"

"Right in the heart of Seireitei. Taichou, we need you there. Sightings of Menos Grandes and even a large Adjucha had already been reported."

"Couldn't you have used a hell butterfly to relay the message?"

Renji had the decency to look sheepish. "Well…that's… Hey, we have to go together anyway." He said defensively.

"Alright," Byakuya got up gracefully and made his way over to the hook on the wall, where his captain haori was hung. He was almost at the door when, suddenly, he looked back at Orihime, who was still sitting quietly on the floor and mentally cheering for the unexpected free time on her hands.

"What are you doing?" The noble inquired impassively. Without giving her a chance to reply, he continued. "You are to come with us, as well."

Orihime looked up at him, bemused.

"What?" Renji was the one who sputtered. "But! Taichou-"

Byakuya's icy gaze turned to Renji quickly, and that was more than enough to shut him up.

"Are you questioning my judgment?" The captain drawled.

"N-no.."

"I just see this as an opportunity for Inoue-san to engage in a true shinigami's duty, a situation where she could observe, and perhaps even join in."

Renji didn't say anything, but his eyes held doubts. Orihime was more than a little insulted, but she too didn't voice her thoughts out loud. If she did, she would've told her friend that if he thought the job was too dangerous for her just because she was a human girl, she would've punched his face in, or the truth… that she was also starting to get worried. Was Byakuya really sure that she could go? Orihime felt the weight of her hairpins on either side of her temples, where they were once again secured safely. Ever since she came to the Kuchiki's house, she hadn't had much of a practice with them (and tearing down the walls of his house could hardly be called suitable practice). What if her skills had gotten rusty? Not to mention the fact that she hadn't taken on a Menos before. Ichigo had.

While she was mulling over these insecurities, her feet had already taken her out of the house, following Byakuya and his fukutaichou down the streets on autopilot. Before long, the sounds of absolute chaos had reached their ears. Not just the usual screams of hollows, or, in this case, a herd of hollows, but also disturbing cries from the surrounding residents, aka the shinigami.

There were just so many of them! Almost like that time Uryu called about hundreds of hollows for the bloody party in Karakura. _Yeah…that was fun. _But for them to show up in the middle of friggin' Seireitei? Ok, this was quite a feast.

Orihime snapped out of her daydream at the sounds of Renji and Byakuya drawing their zanpakutou's. With a shout from Renji and the distant plea of some unknown officer for someone to hurry the hell up and send them backup already, both men charged into the now all-out battle, leaving Orihime stranded there. _Great. Just Great._

A random shinigami stumbled past, and Orihime stepped out of the way just in time. Some sprays of a suspiciously red liquid flew by, missing her right ear by just an inch. _Ok, what would Yumichika say? Yeah, that was definitely not beautiful._

It was when she had changed her course of direction, trying to steer clear of the severed limbs of hollows which were, grossly enough, flying everywhere, that she came face to face with a hideous hollow. Orihime decided then that it was time to call out her little guys.

Lily, Hinagiku and Baigon formed a defensive barrier in front of her while she navigated Tsubaki to do his job. It was a relatively easy fight, seeing as how her opponent was just another common hollow. She took her time to look around the battle field, which unfortunately consisted largely of houses and the normally busy streets. The buildings were falling apart left and right, and the streets weren't so busy anymore, as everyone else but the Sixth Division had fled. Some bodies littered the place here and there, hopefully still breathing.

Orihime debated whether or not she should go heal the fallen soldiers. It would be very dangerous for both herself and the person she's healing, what with all the fights going on all around them. Perhaps they were better off lying there, for now, not attracting unwanted attention. On another note, the shinigami were clearly outnumbered. The Sixth officers, while talented fighters, obviously had their hands full. Maybe she should help the ones standing, instead.

Having made that decision, Orihime quickly got back into the battle. She tried not to hesitate between each strike across the hollows' bodies, urging Tsubaki to go on with the attacks. She'd learned her lesson not to hesitate, if she wanted to save anyone's life.

Three more hollows were taken down by Tsubaki, while the seven of them made their way across the area. By that time, the place had cleared somewhat. There were now less common hollows around. The only threats she could see were the half a dozen remaining menos that the ranked officers were still working on.

Orihime wasn't quite sure where she was going, she supposed she was trying to locate her sensei, just to see what he was up to. She spotted him not far off, fighting the only adjucha among all the other gillians. Byakuya didn't seem to be exerting himself at all. His senbonzakura was only in its shikai state, and he himself was spotless. Every movement he made was elegant and precise. Orihime could only watch in awe and wondered why the fuck he never taught her to fight, among all that crap about shinigami conducts and history.

With a final blow, the adjucha's head, oddly resembling something of a gigantic shrimp, came cleanly off. Byakuya reassembled his blade, and, flicking his wrist abruptly to get rid of the blood on it, sheathed it back. He then seemed to be content with his participation in the fight, choosing to stand there and watch his men finish off the weaker hollows.

Renji was helping another ranked officer dispatch a screeching menos. Orihime watched him in interest, before an ear-splitting wail caught her off guard. The menos adjacent to the one Renji was fighting, ten meters away from where she stood, had manged to fling three shinigami, who were previously clinging on to it like flies, quite a few kilometers away in one large swipe. The black thing was huge, and cast a long shadow on Orihime. The shadow moved, and she brought up her shield while taking a step back automatically. There was no guarantee that it had seen her, since it was various times larger than her and all. _But then, why was it coming this way?_ The menos in question apparently found the spot Orihime was occupying particularly interesting, so it was slowly wading towards it._ Alright, who was she kidding? _It obviously wanted to eat her. _Wow, some people's luck…_

The menos was meters away now, and Orihime wasn't yet sure of what to do. Running away was out of the question. Trying to fight…? Well, Byakuya was right there and he had only ordered her to come and _observe,_ right? Besides, she had already done her share of joining in, dispatching the weaker hollows. Did he expect her to take this menos too?

The menos was, at the moment, way too close. Its continuous screeching noise filled her ears, and must've affected her brain some how, because she was still standing there, as if awaiting instruction. Byakuya hadn't moved from his spot, although it was clear that he was watching them. Just watching. _What the hell?_

Every hair on Orihime's body rang with the sense of lethal danger. If she didn't do anything soon…

Another cry from the menos snapped her out of her reverie. She placed the triangular shield more firmly in front of her, and drew Tsubaki nearer to her side.

"Are we going or what?" He asked, excited by the challenge.

Orihime took a deep breath. She was on her own now.

"Ok. Let's do it."

***

A/N: Sorry, this chapter's a little short. I was already working on the second part of the battle scene, but then couldn't finish it tonight, since it's late now, so I just cut it there. *is ashamed* I really tried! Lethargy's a hard thing to ward off... Lemme know if any of you guys are still following this story. Words of encouragement could help very nicely ;)


	8. Sounds of a Battle Cry

Chapter 8: Sounds of a battle cry

This was complete lunacy. What was he trying to prove anyway? But even in her dramatic mode, Orihime couldn't find it in her to blame everything on Byakuya.

It was her own incompetence that was getting her ass kicked by the menos, nothing whatsoever to do with him. Sure, he was the one who'd insisted she come along to this little field trip. It couldn't possibly be that he _enjoyed_ watching her demise. No one could be _that _sadistic…_right?_

But then, _why in Hueco Mundo was he just standing there, doing NOTHING?!_

Orihime ducked another lethal blow from the menos, turning her shield to the side as she moved.

She knew it. Her attempts at attacking it were futile. The large Gillian was too strong for her current abilities. Its wild reiatsu matched and reflected all of Orihime's attacks, even if its movements were a lot slower than her mere human speed.

After the sixth round or so of barely avoiding the heavy swipes and three ceroes later, Orihime was just a little out of breath. She hated to admit it, but it seemed that her situation was entering the territories of desperate. If only Ichigo was here-

_No__, s_he mustn't think like that. She couldn't always rely on him to come save everybody. Ichigo was NOT here. She was.

"Orihime!"

Orihime turned to the source of that noise. Renji had finished up his menos, and was now coming to her rescue.

All of a sudden, Byakuya flash stepped to block his lieutenant's path. The redhead's jaw dropped, and Orihime was certain that a string of bemused, if not rude, protests were being uttered from his mouth at the speed of 5 miles a minute. But Orihime wasn't listening. If Byakuya wanted her to take care of this on her own, then she sure as hell would prove that she could.

Orihime dodged a particularly big cero, and ran behind the menos. It would take some time for the hollow's sluggish brain to process the change and locate her. She used this valuable moment to think of a strategy. Any strategy would do right now.

Orihime wasn't especially agile in combat like Ichigo, she wasn't tough like Chad, and neither was she astoundingly clever in planning like Uryu. At times, she wasn't sure where she stood in the group that was supposed to be a Fantastic Four, which she thought was more suited for the title of Fantastic Three. Maybe Rukia would fill her place, now that she'd recovered…

Shaking her head fiercely, Orihime reevaluated the state of affairs. Now was definitely not the time to get all emo. So the straight- on attack hadn't worked on the menos. It merely swatted Tsubaki back like it had the shinigami earlier. She could try attacking it from the back, which she was in a great position to do so. But considering the hollow's steel-like skin, it wouldn't have had much effects, either.

What she needed was an opening. A soft spot. Orihime thought she knew just the place.

The hollow's mask was where they taught every shinigami to aim for, Orihime had learned. So if she could ask Tsubaki to swerve a little to the right…

"_OWWW!!!"_

Tsubaki's scream rang in her ears. Unfortunately the menos had realized his intention a second too soon and raised its bony hand to block its face, where Tsubaki had shot for. The hollow's sharp nails came down on him, and he didn't manage to completely get out of their way.

Orihime moved just in time to catch the falling fairy as he spiraled down.

"Are you alright?"

"_No, I'm not alright!"_ Tsubaki spat. He was clearly pissed off. His right shoulder was wounded with a deep gash, but his wings were still flapping, trying to lift himself out of Orihime's hands. He was being kept up by her own reiatsu, which was admittedly not all that grand and impressive as she would've liked.

"You didn't wait for my orders!" She reprimanded.

"_Well, they never came! You stupid woman. I've just about had it with all your self-deprecating crap!"_

Orihime was glad no one else but her could hear their conversation, the way this was going.

"I was just trying to think, you idiot. Stop acting on your own, you're gonna get all of us killed." She shot back.

Orihime flinched at her own words. Did she just say "_killed_"? Was their situationa really that dire?

It was almost like a dream. Some twisted dream, she thought. Here she was in Seireitei, fighting alongside the shinigami, and she was losing. Not just that, she was losing _in front of_ a captain and a vice-captain, who were unfortunately watching it all.

Orihime spared a glance in their direction. Renji was undoubtedly worried, if his face didn't obviously show, his fluctuating reiatsu was a definite giveaway- Orihime was getting better at reading people's spiritual pressures. Among other emotions, the redhead was feeling agitated and confused at his captain's order to stay put. She couldn't read Byakuya's well-masked reiatsu, though. No surprises there.

What was the deal with _him_, anyway? Was he seriously expecting her to take care of a full-grown menos, the one whom several of his shinigami officers couldn't even handle? Was this part of their lesson, too? But Byakuya never taught her to fight, so this wasn't even remotely relevant. Could it be that he really did hold a grudge against her from all those days ago? And wasn't this just taking it a little too far? She could slip up any moment now and get seriously hurt.

The menos finally turned around and found its target. The large, bony hand came for her and Orihime bounced on her heels, flipping upside-down to get out of harm's way. She had to thank Tatsuki later for teaching her that move. If she ever made it out of here, that is.

While jumping around and running this way and that for dear life, feeling rather ridiculous, Orihime entertained the thought of running in Renji and Byakuya's direction. If she brought a whole hollow after her and towards them, there was no way the noble wouldn't slay the thing himself.

Something hit the side of her head, hard. Well, she hadn't seen that one coming.

"Oww! Tsubaki, what the fuck?"

"Quit screwing around like a coward, and fight! You're thinking of ways to escape instead of confronting the problem, what the hell's the matter with you?" Yelled Tsubaki, shaking his tiny fists.

"Hey, if you haven't noticed, our attacks are kinda not working on the big dude over there?" Orihime retorted, twisting sideways to dodge another cero, the act that was becoming laborious.

"We still haven't tried for his mask yet. Send me again." Tsubaki insisted.

"No. I don't wanna risk getting you injured like last time," was Orihime's firm reply.

"So what? Ayame and Shun'o can heal me later. Why don't you ever believe in me?" The dark-haired Shun Shun Rikka said, his voice tinged with hurt.

This was true. Orihime didn't completely trust Tsubaki's ability. His main focus on attacking made him vulnerable to counter-attacks, and Orihime had grown tired of seeing him injured on several occasions.

The menos suddenly moved in directly towards her, its mouth forming a glowing-red cero. Orihime only had enough time to put the shield up when it fired. The sheer force of the attack knocked on her shield, though not shattering it, sending her flying backwards. She landed rather painfully on the broken cement of what used to be the pavement. There was a small yelp of surprise coming from her audience- no doubt from Renji. Around her, other fights were still going on. For the tenth time, she wondered why they were not being sent backup. If another squad was involved, the hollows could've been cleared much faster.

Orihime sat up slowly, noting that her opponent wasn't so close by anymore. The force of the cero had sent her back some ten feet or so. She glared daggers at Byakuya, but stopped upon the realization that he was frowning. His usually stoic face was changed. His dark eyebrows were knitted in…Orihime wasn't sure what. Concern? Anxiety, perhaps? Or was that disappointment she saw?

_Well, this whole thing was his fault, anyway._ Orihime felt like punching herself, but refrained from doing so for the sake of those watching on. She just hated how this fight was making her think negative thoughts, especially about the man she called _sensei_. Deep down, she knew Byakuya's true intention. There was no mistaking it. This was the same man who held her when she was crying- he was a kind person. After that day, Orihime knew he was.

Orihime got up, ignoring the sharp pain digging at her back. Byakuya wanted her to be more confident with her abilities. He had to think that she could handle this menos if he didn't allow Renji to interfere, even if she didn't believe that she could herself.

"Tsubaki," Orihime whispered, her voice steady. "New plan."

The menos was expecting her. It stood its ground, taking the defensive stance. There was no way that this could've had the element of surprise.

"KOTEN ZANSHUN!" Orihime's incantation rang out, loud and clear, full of confidence as it had the first time she'd discovered it.

Tsubaki charged head on, aiming bluntly for the menos' head. His target seemed to be waiting for him to come within reach, to strike him back as it had done countless times before.

This attack was different, though, and it shone in Tsubaki's eyes and radiating white light flashed along his sides. He was doing what he did best, which was attacking. It was up to Orihime to ensure his success. And ensured it she did.

At the last moment, when the destructive right hand of the menos came up and towards Tsubaki, just as he almost reached his destination like before, Orihime sacrificed the shield that was keeping her safe, and sent it towards him.

The bony hand came in contact with the shield, where Tsubaki had been just a second before. The dark-haired fairy flew through, rejecting the particles of the menos' head, cutting it cleanly in half.

There was a short, earsplitting cry that filled the afternoon sky, before the menos disintegrated into black dust which scattered away in the wind.

Orihime let out the breath she'd been holding.

"ALL RIGHT!" Renji cheered, finally making his way towards her.

Orihime called Tsubaki back along with the other Shun Shun Rikka, forming them into the blue hairpins.

"You did it, kid." The redhead barked, grinning. "Even if it took you twice the time it'd take _me_ to take care of that menos."

"Oh, do shut up." Orhime rolled her eyes, rubbing her sore back. She chanced a look at Byakuya, who nodded slightly at her. An act of approval. She let a grin of her own spread across her face.

Behind Renji, Orihime spotted a little kid making his way towards them with an air of importance. Closer inspection determined that the _kid_ was wearing a captain's haori. _Hm…or maybe that's the famous Hitsugaya-taichou?_

"Are you guys alright?" The white-haired genius asked, glancing around at what remained of the battle scene. The rest of the shinigami had cleansed the other menos, and were now either injured, or checking on all their injured collegues.

Byakuya, who had joined them, let his eyes narrow somewhat in suspicion and annoyance, the closest to a grimace he could get. "Hitsugaya-taichou, would you be so kind as to enlighten me where all the other squads are? Such a large number of hollows would normally require more than one division alone to terminate."

"I don't know." Toushiro replied simply. "We all got the order from Yamamoto-soutaichou to stay in our squads and let the Sixth handle them. Apparently Kurotsuchi-taichou, who was behind all of this, was being interrogated by the captain commander when his order came through."

"I see."

There was what sounded most like a squeak. Orihime turned to see captain Clown in question making his way over. He seemed considerably pissed off.

"What is this?" Mayuri shrieked, looking around as though he couldn't believe his eyes. "Where are my hollows?!"

"They were taken care of," Byakuya replied calmly.

"What do you mean, taken care of?" Captain Clown tilted his head to the side in a lethal act of curiosity, his yellow eyes narrowing. "Don't tell me your squad killed them!?"

"Naturally."

Mayuri took a long, shuddering breath, seemingly to calm himself. It didn't quite work out. What followed was a tirade of nonsense, closely resembling that of a nervous breakdown rant.

"I have HAD it with you people! First, that idiot of a daughter let my test subjects run loose from the freakin' lab, which was her responsibility to lock up, for heaven's sake! Then, that old fart just blindly accused me of causing, and I quote, "a disastrous encounter" in Seireitei. What's so disastrous about it? If anything, you inconsiderate people just killed them in pure ignorance. Months of valuable research! Gone, down the drain. I call _that _disastrous. Furthermore, refusing to acknowledge the aesthetics of my hollows experimentation, the old man also ordered ME to pay for the damages! The nerve! I mean, why can't YOUR division pay for them? The way I see it, it was your men who wrecked havoc on those buildings with their inefficient technique of fighting!"

_Sheesh, I don't know. Maybe it's cuz they weren't the ones who let loose the army of hollows? Freak. _Orihime didn't voice her thoughts, either because the lessons with the Kuchiki was starting to rub off, or because of the fact that Mayuri was a creep and Gods knew which organs he may or may not extract from her while she was asleep.

Noticing that Hitsugaya's famed vein on his forehead was about to pop, Orihime quietly excused herself to go wash off the hollows' reek from her clothes. She contentedly made her way home, back to Byakuya's place.

***

A/N: Comments? Criticisms? Share! XD


	9. Reform

Chapter 9: Reform

"Inoue-san, please concentrate."

Orihime jumped at the mention of her name. She had been indulging in one of her absentminded fantasies, and not for the first time that afternoon. This was getting way out of hand.

"Now turn to page 112."

But then again, who could argue that admiring Byakuya's soft, fine hair and the delicate curve of his jaw was more enjoyable than learning when the Central 46 came to power. Who cared about them, anyway? They were all dead, last time she checked.

"Inoue-san! What's the matter with you today?"

Orihime grabbed her book with a start and feverishly tried to search for the wanted page. 113…114…_Wait, what page was it again?_

The noble sighed softly. Oh what glorious sound-

_Ok, snap out of it!_

"Page 112," Byakuya repeated patiently. "Inoue-san, do keep in mind that there is little time left before our sessions come to an end. Yamamoto-soutaichou will want to see your progress then, and we want that to go smoothly, meaning that it has to appear as though you've actually learned something from me, do you understand?"

Orihime nodded, grimly. Byakuya was so not cute when he got all serious about duties and Captain Commander and shit. In all practicality, it did not concern her whether or not Yamamoto gets the impression that he'd done a crappy job at reforming her. That was his own problem, because by then the one month sentence would be over and Orihime would be a free man. Well, woman. Whatever.

Admittedly, though, Orihime wasn't that cruel. The time she spent in Byakuya's care had, in fact, done her some good, even if she would never say it out loud. In just a few weeks, Orihime had seen some changes in herself. Good changes.

Somehow it was like going to school: at first it seemed completely useless, but in the end turned out that it helped you grow more as a person. It wasn't that she'd learned more about Seireitei than she already knew, or that her manners had reached the noble's superb standards. No, not those little things. Byakuya helped her discover her own strength, broaden her powers and shed some of her insecurities, though she was sure that it wasn't what he agreed to do in court in the first place. He didn't turn out to be some sadistic, revenge-seeking bastard she had expected, after all. Well, most of the time, anyway. The least she could do in return was to try and behave herself.

They worked in silence for some time, he with his own paperwork and she with her assigned reading. Alright, so it was more subtly drooling over her sensei than actually getting the words in her head.

Byakuya glanced at her, then at the wooden clock on the immaculate, white wall of the study.

Again, he sighed. "Perhaps a small break is in order," he decided. "Take 15. I want your full attention when we continue."

Orihime was glad for that. She thought of getting some snacks as she left the room, perhaps that would help keep her focus on the study materials. Although, to be completely honest, that wasn't the problem here. The problem, as Orihime came to realize, was that Byakuya was too damn distracting. Sure, she knew since the beginning that he was hot. Every straight and bi women who ever set eyes on him knew that. Rangiku's words, not hers. The busty blonde had proceeded to list all the guys she deemed sexy in Seireitei the first time they met, much to Orihime's horror. She supposed her great dislike for the noble, stemmed from the unfortunate first impression she had of him, stopped her from checking him out in the first place. Now, either because she began to recognize him for the kind person he was, or because she had spent too much time in his company and had not seen other men apart from the servants for so long. She hoped it wasn't the latter.

The wall on the right of the hallway she was walking through suddenly rumbled. Orihime jumped back in alarm. A door then opened out of nowhere, showing a pink ball of…blurry thingy. The pink thingy flew towards her at full force, and Orihime had to sidestep to avoid it crashing into her torso.

"Hime-channnn!!!!" Yachiru squeaked, eyes big and sparkly. "I can't believe I finally ran into you! I heard you were living here, but the house is so big I had to spend days digging and-"

Orihime cringed at the sheer brightness of the little girl's aura. Her cheerfulness, her little voice and just her flapping motions were enough to make Orihime nervous. The fact that she was never good with kids didn't help much.

"What are you doing here? And you dug what?!"

Yachiru stopped mid-sentence in her rambling as she noticed the older girl's tone of disapproval. Something ominous lit in her red eyes.

"Oh, so you're not excited to see me?" Her voice was still small and sweet, but Orihime's sensor picked up something dangerous.

"Uh…"

"What? Were you intending to keep Byakushi all to yourself here or something?" Yachiru pressed on, smiling. Orihime was reminded of the Third Division's former captain.

"Say wha-"

"Like, you're trying to steal my crush just cuz you're older than me?" The pink-haired devil bounced on her heels and Orihime took a step back slowly.

"Your…Huh?"

"You know Ken-chan will be so mad if he finds out."

"Oh, he will?"

"Yeah. I mean, the way he mentions you, it's like he thinks you're cool or something. But if you're gonna steal my Byakushi I will tell Kenny that you're so not cool. Like, who's gonna feed me?"

_Ok, so Yachiru already lost me there._

The little girl suddenly gasped, as if hit by an epiphany. "You probably had Ken-chan fooled, too!"

"I what?"

"In thinking that you're cool," Yachiru explained.

"Alright."

This better start making sense soon, or Orihime will get very cranky. This pink ball of…nonsense was taking up her break time and she was hungry.

"You better not steal Ken-chan!" Yachiru threatened. "Or I will be very mad."

"I won't," Orihime promised, rather tiredly.

"I mean, you're very pretty…"

"Thank you."

"But I'm way prettier!"

"Of course you are."

"And Ken-chan's MINE!"

OK, that sounded…wrong? Orihime raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah, I like him too." Yachiru clarified.

"I've noticed."

"No, I mean I have a little crush on Kenny too." She giggled happily.

"…"

"But whenever I tried something, he brushed me away and kept saying something like I'm too young." Yachiru complained.

"You tried…what exactly?" Orihime said, getting paler by the second. This was too much information for her human brain to handle. Of course she knew that Yachiru was way older that she looked, but still…

"Hehe, I bet you think I'm some kind of an innocent little girl, right?" The pink-haired vice captain gave her a sweet smile.

"Nope, I was never fooled one bit."

"Hey, you ever thought how wonderful it would be if two of my crushes, Byakushi and Kenny, were to get together?" Yachiru rambled on, changing the subject randomly.

_Whoa, what?_

"Think about it, they are two of my favorite men, and they're sooo pretty!"

Orihime never thought Kenpachi was pretty, to be frank.

"Yachiru-fukutaichou, what are you doing in my house, again?" Byakuya's cold voice from behind them froze the two girls temporarily.

Yachiru recovered quickly, though, turning on her heels and attempted to tackle the noble. As Orihime had done, he sidestepped to allow her to crash into the paper wall. She bounced back cheerfully, settling on giving him a wave instead.

"Byakushi! Hime-chan here was just telling me how she fantasized about you and Ken-chan together!"

_Fuck._

"Why you little-"

To her astonishment, Byakuya seemed amused. "Well that would explain your daydreaming in our lessons." He said.

Orihime supposed it was safe to say that this was more embarrassing than the time Ichigo found her hiding in his closet.

"Anyway, your break's over, so I came to get you."

"Yes, sensei." Orihime said monotonously, shoulders sagged. She still hadn't gotten anything to eat.

***

A/N: Well this chapter was random - -"

We're fast approaching the end, so I thought I'd put something light here to change from the previous chapters' moods.


	10. This Is My Goodbye

A/N: Here we are, chapter 10! This is the last chapter, guys. *dramatic sigh*

I had to finish this before my test week, and it's been hectic with school lately. Wow, what a ride XD

***

Chapter 10: This is my goodbye

Orihime slid open the rice paper door. Seated on the cushioned floor were two figures of imminent power: Kuchiki Byakuya and Yamamoto-Soutaichou. The latter lifted an eye to watch her come in. Orihime took care to close the door behind her gently, with eyes cast downwards.

Formality was in the air.

***

"Hey, how did it go?" Rangiku asked, tilting a sake bottle to meet her full lips.

They were seated around the coffee table of the Tenth division. Rangiku, Shuuhei, Izuru and Orihime stared at the cluster of sake bottles and cups in front of them. Luckily, the division's captain had gone home for the evening.

"Hm..?" Orihime idly looked at Rangiku, not really listening. She was the only one in the group without a sake cup in hand.

"I said- Hey, why aren't you drinking?" The blonde stopped in her track and eyed the younger girl suspiciously.

"I'm underage," Orihime graciously explained.

There was a gurgling noise beside her, and she turned to see Shuuhei choking on his own drink. _That idiot._

"Bullshit," he coughed, and Orihime wasn't sure if he was actually laughing. "What about that last time you went drinking with us?"

Orihime grimaced. "Well, one does learn from one's mistakes, you know? I obviously don't want a repeat of that episode again, ever."

Kira and Rangiku blinked in confusion. The latter had a sparkle in her eyes as she normally did when she sensed a gossip waiting to be discovered.

Noticing this, Orihime deftly changed the subject. "But if you were asking about my progress evaluation with Yamamoto, I'd say it went pretty well, Rangiku-san."

"Really?" Kira smiled. "What kind of things did he ask you?"

"Oh just general stuff. He was being really nice. It was quite surprising that he didn't try to test me at all. Not on my social skills or knowledge of history as Byakuya had warned me about. He just asked how I was doing and if I had adjusted to living at the manor."

"Oh? That's good. And was Kuchiki-taichou there with you?"

"Why, of course he was. Just sitting there being stoic as was required, while I rambled on with my praises about his teachings to Yamamoto."

Her three friends stared at her incredulously.

"What?" Orihime cocked her head in feigned innocence.

Rangiku not-so-subtly leaned into Kira and whispered loudly, "Jesus, I think they've brainwashed her."

Orihime chuckled. "That's lame, guys. What are you trying to say?"

"Well, ya see kid, we haven't seen you in like a week, and now you're being all Lovely Lady on us. I thought you hated Kuchiki-taichou?" Shuuhei took the liberty of explaining.

"That's right, I did." Orihime stated matter-of-factly. "But now I think he's…wonderful…" The last word she uttered with a dreamy sigh.

Shuuhei, Kira and Rangiku exchanged panicked glances.

"For the love of Gods! What ever happened to you?" The dark-haired man exclaimed.

"It's alright Shuuhei, we've all been there." Rangiku gave Orihime a sympathetic, knowing look. "It was just a matter of time. After all, who can resist Kuchiki-taichou?"

Silence reigned. The male vice captains seemed uncomfortable.

"I still don't get it," Shuuhei blurted out. "What's so great about HIM anyway? He's so stuffy and arrogant and-"

"Ah, but you haven't lived in the same house as and spent time with him, or you'll see how really kind and funny and sweet he actually is. Not a lot of people know that." Orihime said with a goofy smile on her face.

"Yeah, tell that to his dead wife. I'm not sure how she died, but I figured she probably hung herself after being insisted by her own husband to call him 'sama'."

"That's mean!"

"You guys, settle down," Rangiku ordered with a friendly tone. The tone also told them that if they didn't do as they were told, she was going to drown them both in jugs of sake for ruining her peaceful drinking evening. "As far as I can see, Orihime-chan is just having a nice, harmless little crush. A phase all girls go through."

Noticing the younger woman's pout, she added, "But of course, if this crush doesn't go away soon, you better do something about it."

Orihime perked up. "Seriously?"

"Of course! I mean, you're leaving soon, aren't you? In a week?"

"Six days, actually."

"Yeah, like I said. You need to take this opportunity to get it all out of your system." Rangiku said firmly.

"I see…" Orihime paused. "But won't that be, oh I don't know, suicidal?"

"Naturally." Kira put in.

There was a sound of someone fumbling at the door. All four of them looked towards it expectantly, Rangiku and Shuuhei in mid-swig of sake.

"Hey Matsumoto, you're still here? I forgot the form that Uohana-taichou asked me to sign, do you know where-"

Orihime supposed that Hitsugaya-taichou had by that time taken in the sight of all the sake bottles littering the floor, because he froze. Literally.

The room's temperature dropped by a considerable number of degrees.

"What the HELL are you guys doing in my office?!"

***

Orihime took a deep, nerves-calming breath, her wrist poised on the wooden door to the Sixth Division's headquarters. She had taken Rangiku's advice and came all the way here to try and force some "quality time" between her and Byakuya outside their lessons, which had already ended after her official one month punishment. Orihime, however, was still staying at his house for a few more days, waiting for the scheduled time that the senkai gate to the human world would be opened for her. She thought that she might as well use this time to her advantage. After all, if her attempts at humanizing Byakuya failed miserably, Orihime figured that she could always hide in the real world afterwards, preferably for the rest of her life.

"What are you doing here?" A familiar voice greeted her from behind. Orihime turned around to see the subject of her thoughts standing there, on his way into the office.

"Oh, you're not in there…" Orihime said, rather unnecessarily.

"That's right, I'm out here."

Orihime wasn't sure if he meant to be demeaning or funny- it was hard to tell.

"What business do you have with me, Inoue-san?" Byakuya asked, all formal again. That made it much harder.

"Um…" Orihime looked around for distraction, anything to keep her from melting into a puddle of idiotic goo at his intense gaze. She blurted the first thing that came to mind. "Lunch!"

"I'm afraid I don't quite follow…"

"Yes!" Orihime said thankfully, grasping on to her flash of idea. " Haha you do eat, right?" She grinned bleakly. "I just wanted to ask you to lunch."

"I already ate."

"Oh." Well, that was successful.

"What is it? Do you need money for food?" Byakuya asked in concern.

"N-no! That's not why I came." _Great, now he thinks I'm begging for money._

Turning bright red, Orihime took a few steps back. "You know what? Never mind. Maybe later!" With that, she speed-walked out of the division.

What was she thinking? He probably only saw her as his little sister's friend. Byakuya Kuchiki was unattainable, unapproachable, un- _OH GAWD. Rukia will be more than freaked. She'd skewer me!_

In her daze, Orihime walked right into a concrete wall. Or at least, that was what it seemed to be at first. Closer examination determined that the hard block she rammed into was actually Renji Abarai.

"What's up Orihime?" The redhead smiled at her, all scarily friendly as usual.

Orihime rubbed her forehead but said nothing.

"Hm…came to flirt with the Captain, didn't ya?" He took in her flushed complexion, a glint of a knowing look in his eyes.

Orihime froze, before her friend erupted into a loud bark of obnoxious laughter.

"H-how…"

"How did I know?" Renji shook his head sympathetically. "Orihime, Orihime," he said in an almost _tut-tut_ manner. "You told Rangiku." It was as if that should've been obvious.

Orihime wanted to smack herself for being such a pathetic loser. How could she have made the same mistake twice? Was it not for the blonde that everyone in Seireitei knew about her spitting on Byakuya's scarf, in the first place?

"Might as well broadcast it with a few hundreds of hell butterflies." Renji added, rather unnecessarily.

Just as Orihime decided not to dignify any of his comments with a reply, the conversation just took a turn for the worse.

"So, how did it go?" The redhead said nonchalantly.

"Must you even ask?"

"That bad, huh. Well, ya know what they say, seduce Kuchiki Byakuya or die tryin'" He said as a matter-of-factly.

"Who the _hell _says that?"

Renji shrugged. "What I mean is, if you're gonna go for it, make sure ya go all the way!"

Orihime considered this. Then something hit her. "Hey, Renji, are you really ok with this?"

The vice captain looked at her for a few seconds, seemingly gauging what she meant by the question. Then, he understood. "Contrary to popular belief, I do NOT have an undying love for my captain." He said grimly.

"Well, one just had to check…" Orihime mumbled guiltily. Renji was right, though. If she were at all to gain some respect from her peers, or from herself, for that matter, she really had to step up and stop being a coward.

There were only five more days left to work on the Kuchiki.

***

Day 1:

"So… you wanna play a game?"

"No."

"Let's talk!"

"About what?"

"Stuff…"

"…No."

Orihime sighed. She was just getting a little irritated with the nay-saying noble.

"What is it? I have work to do." Byakuya asked emotionlessly, noticing that she was still there in his study.

"I'm bored!"

"Then go outside and play with your friends."

What did he think she was, a three-year-old? Seducing Byakuya proved to be a very challenging task indeed.

Day 2:

It was during one of their quiet meals that Orihime blurted out the unthinkable.

"You have really nice hair!"

Appalled by her own stupidity, she sat back on the chair and proceeded to munch her rice wordlessly. Maybe they could pretend like nothing happened…

"Thank you." Byakuya said without missing a beat, as calm and graceful as always. Orihime was suddenly reminded of the story she heard when she was a child, about a dog barking at the swan- wait, or was it barking at the moon? Anyway, the moral of the story was probably the same.

Day 3:

She let her pearl white yukata slip off her left shoulder just a little, taking care to leave a strand of long hair cascading down her exposed skin.

"Byakuya?" She peered into his study, somewhere near midnight. The noble was still working away at his report.

He turned to look at her for a second, before turning back to his writing.

"What do you want?"

"My room's so cold! I was wondering if you could-"

"Ask a servant to bring you extra blankets."

Day 4:

Orihime was eating lunch at a small restaurant in Seireitei, a place where working shinigami frequented. Renji, Ikkaku, Kira, Yumichika, Shuuhei, and Rangiku were there with her. It was like a small goodbye party. Orihime suspected she'd be too busy with moving the next day to see any of them again.

"So, hime-san, how's that seduction plan of yours working out?" Yumichika was the one to ruin her peaceful mood, casually bringing up the topic.

"Jesus, don't call it _that_." Ikkaku said, somewhat disgusted.

_Did __EVERYBODY know about this?!_

"I…uh…"

Before she had time to finish her coherent reply, however, Rangiku cut her off.

"There's just one more day left, Orihime! What ever other tactics you have left, use them!"

"No way, I say she's hopeless." Shuuhei commented airily. He promptly got socked on the jaw by Renji.

"You don't know that! Personally, I'd bow to anyone who's willing to take my Captain out on a date. It'd make things a lot easier on me if he isn't so uptight all the time."

"I hear ya," Yumichika said pityingly.

Meanwhile, Orihime thought for a whole minute about drowning herself in the bowl of miso soup. Perhaps her next life would offer a more intellectual variety of acquaintances. The notion was entertaining, that is, until she realized that if she were dead she'd be sent to live in Soul Society for good.

But who was she kidding? Orihime looked around at them all, laughing and joking around her. Whether she admitted it or not, she loved these bastards.

They finished eating and left, most of them having to return to their divisions.

On her way out, Orihime had an unexpected encounter with someone she rather preferred to believe did not exist at all.

Kurotsuchi Mayuri was in his usual, creepy attire. He seemed to be standing there this whole time, waiting for her to separate from her group of friends. His anxious behavior resembled that of a man's, about to ask someone on their first date. Orihime was pretty sure, though, that that wasn't his intention.

"Ah, Inuoe-san! Just the person I wanted to see." He attempted nonchalance, as if he just randomly ran into her and was not in fact waiting around like a professional stalker.

"What do you want?" She asked curtly, not caring if it sounded rude. Byakuya was not there to correct her manners, and even if he was, Orihime didn't think he would mind it too terribly. It _was_ Kurotsuchi, after all.

"I heard that you're leaving soon, and I was just wondering what your final answer to my proposal is…" Captain Clown fidgeted with his painted fingernails, an image one wouldn't want to witness in one's life, ever.

Finally, he blurted out. "Would you be my test subject?! My offer of minimum lab exposure time and all those perks still stands."

Orihime looked at him for several seconds. There was something that had been bugging her since the first time they met. She just HAD to say it.

"Kurotsuchi?"

"Yes?"

"Is that a zanpakuto in your pants, or are you just happy to see me?"

"…"

"That will be all." She smiled sweetly, and turned on her heels.

Day 5:

Today was her last day in Seireitei. Orihime still hadn't finished packing her belongings. Surprisingly, she felt a little sad about leaving, even though she also wanted to see her old friends again.

She spent the morning wandering around the house, checking each room to make sure she didn't forget anything. The gate would be opened at midday, so she still had some time left . Not that it would make a difference, anyway. Kuchiki Byakuya was as cold as he was known to be, even if she refused to believe it. As the end of their time together drew near, the hopelessness of her plan dawned on Orihime.

What, had she believed that, to him, she was a breath of fresh air, that she could change the man with her unique presence, or something conceited like that? Orihime was starting to realize now that too many years had passed, and Byakuya still hadn't gotten over his wife. By the looks of it, many years would still have to pass before any progress can be seen. It didn't help that Rukia's face was a constant reminder to him, living under the same roof, even if she was away often.

Orihime might as well just give up now, it would save herself a lot of trouble. This wouldn't be the first time her love went unrequited, anyway. Maybe she just had the tendency to be attracted to people guaranteed to be oblivious. Or maybe they knew how she felt, and purposefully acted as if they didn't. The thought alone was too depressing to dwell on, so Orihime went into the kitchen, in search of something to stuff her face.

It gave her time to think more reasonably, though. Whether or not Byakuya was the subject of her desire, it didn't really matter all that much. He was still her sensei, a man who gave her a worthwhile time during the one month that she'd stayed with him, and that was what truly mattered. Before she left, she just had to thank him.

Byakuya was away at the moment, probably at a meeting. Orihime wasn't sure if he'd be there to see her off, either. But if she couldn't talk to him face to face, she'd settle for an alternative. It might be easier that way, too, seeing as how their previous conversations went.

She came back to her room and sat at her desk. In the drawers, she found some pieces of paper, an ink bottle, and a brush.

Fifteen minutes later, Orihime looked at her note. It wasn't exceptionally beautiful, and the verses were nowhere near romantic. Its only redeeming feature was that the handwriting was legible, and she figured that the message at least managed to convey her sentiments. The words were raw and not at all ladylike, but Orihime thought that they suited her style very much.

She left it on the table and exited the room.

***

Later, a loyal servant of the house was to discover a small piece of paper in the empty guestroom addressing her master. It read:

Dear Byakuya,

I hope you find this poem to your liking, or at least up to your standard.

Thank you for everything.

Yours truly,

Orihime

P.S. I finally tried harder at calligraphy.

Pain

A cut, a bruise, a pounding headache,

Consumed in all fires of rage,

Impaled by warriors with ten blades,

Nothing hurts as much as my heartache.

* * *

Epilogue

"What, is that THING?"

A girl, resembling her so much it wasn't funny, at the moment was yapping for Ichigo.

"Kurosaki-kun!!!" She broke free from Uryu, after socking him in the crotch, and made a leap for the orange-haired teen with such a happy squeal it scared the shit out of Orihime.

With practiced ease, Ichigo sidestepped, and the gigai landed flat on her face. Yup. If there was the tiniest chance Orihime had with Ichigo to begin with, it was crushed to a gazillion particles by now. But surprisingly, she didn't mind too much.

There was a small party welcoming her return. One of Rukia's bright ideas. Orihime had enjoyed herself, catching up with everything that's been going on. After everyone helped clean up and left, though, she found herself staring out the window, her mind wandering off into another world.

Even when she was back at home, surrounded by her friends, those precious to her, Orihime couldn't help but think of Byakuya and their time in Soul Society. The man had taught her manners (or at least attempted to), had cared for her during those confined days, and trusted her enough to show his human side, however brief those moments were. He said the words she most longed to hear, something her parents never said, something that even her brother failed to say, no matter how effortless it had seemed on his part.

It was for these memories that, when she was captured in Hueco Mundo and her friends came to her rescue, the suspicion which had been growing forever since her time in Soul Society was confirmed. As Byakuya killed the last of the Espada there and saved her from that hellish place, she knew it more than anything she ever had. Despite how he denied it in the past, and would surely continue to do so, Byakuya Kuchiki indeed felt. And he sure as hell cared.

***

A/N: Thank you so much for all your support and reviews, you guys are so great! ^ ^

Let me know what ya all think of the ending, ok? Liked it, hated it, or whatever, just bring it on!

xx Mina


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